About me.
Hi my name is Barry Cook, and a number of years ago a counsellor helped me with my own emotional journey whilst going through a marital break up and the family courts.  
I had also been working with young people in care for a number of years and was always puzzled in that they never received counselling.

So I decided to train as a counsellor believing that my own life and work experiences, would help and support other people to find clarity and understanding in what ever was happening for them.

Sounds all very simple doesn't it?

It wasn't.  It was a journey.  A journey where I gained a huge amount of self-awareness.  Self-awareness is a powerful thing and in working with me I am hopeful that you will come to feel the same.  

It's not that we wont come up against life's struggles again, because we will.  However, by having the knowledge and resilience to overcome them and not repeat the same mistakes again when they do, you will be able to approach life with a different perspective and greater self-awareness.

Counselling can enable us to find clarity and meaning with what we have experienced in our lives and then use this information to understand and become more aware of why and who we are and how we interact with others.

If you choose to work with me, you will have a safe private and confidential space that I provide to work this out.

Lets take a Journey Together.

Before you make up your mind let me tell you a little more about myself.  I am a qualified counsellor for both adults and young people,  I am accredited with the National Counselling Society.  I am also tattooed hence the name 'The Tattooed Counsellor'.

• I hold a CPCAB diploma level 5 in Counselling Children and Young People. 
• I hold a CPCAB diploma level 2, 3 & 4 in Counselling Adults.
• I have a BSc in Psychology and Criminology from Keele University.  
• I have NVQ3 in Health and Social Care (children and young people).
• I have a Life Coaching qualification.
• I am DBS checked, have been trained in safe guarding for both adults and young people.
• I am also fully insured and an accredited member of the National Counselling Society.

My approach is an integrative one in that I utilise theory from both Psychodynamic and Person Centred theory.  

Psychodynamic is based more within the historical aspects of our lives e.g. our upbringing, the relationships we form the mixture of experiences that we all go though in our lives, with the ultimate belief being that our pasts are with us here in the present unconsciously influencing our day to day interactions with others and the world.  Have you ever wondered why you keep repeating patterns of behaviour or the same things seem to keep happening in your relationships with others.

Person Centred is based more in the therapeutic relationship that forms in the on-going therapy, the belief being that by me being my true self e.g. honest, open and genuine with no airs or graces.  Then this will allow more of the real you to come into the therapy room and in doing so this then allows for me to see what others see and then to offer this back to you.  This also looks at the way you interact with the world and what and how you may be being influenced and conditioned to be in your life.

I also utilise aspects of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Solution Focused Therapy.  Since becoming aware of and understanding why we do the things we do, or react in the ways we do is one thing.  But then actually being brave enough to challenge this thinking and feeling can be very fear provoking, so I felt it is also good practice to explore ways in which we can look to change things moving forward feeling confident enough to know things can still go wrong, but that they can also go right.      

I will also draw upon life coaching aspects of my training to support people who are facing challenges in there day to day decision making to offer them a space in which they can bounce ideas, thoughts and feelings around various life changing subjects and to work towards and outcome.