Counselling & Psychotherapy in Gillingham, Medway
Counselling offers time to talk about what is happening in your life and explore it with support. I’m Vincent Akinnawo, a BACP-accredited integrative counsellor and psychotherapist, working in Gillingham, Medway and online.
Sessions cost £70 for 50 minutes. A free 30-minute initial consultation gives us time to discuss what you need and whether we could work well together.
I work with children, young people and adults and am currently accepting new clients. We agree session frequency individually and review our work together. Please get in touch to discuss suitability and appointment times.
In our initial conversation, you can ask about my approach, share what you hope counselling might help with and discuss practical arrangements. We will consider whether working together is appropriate before agreeing ongoing sessions.
Please give at least 24 hours’ notice to cancel or change an appointment. The full £70 session fee is payable for less than 24 hours’ notice or non-attendance. Online sessions can use Zoom, Microsoft Teams or Google Meet. Clients outside the UK should confirm their location with me before booking.
What issues can counselling help with?
Feelings of stress or anxiety
Panic attacks
Relationship problems
Grief, loss or bereavement
Problems with addiction
Trauma and post-traumatic stress
Abuse
Depression
Problems with confidence or self-esteem
Anger management
Issues relating to sexuality
Difficulties at work or in retirement
Problems with family or school life
How it works
We can explore what brings you to counselling, notice patterns and consider the changes you want to make. I adapt our work to your needs, drawing on different counselling and psychotherapy approaches. We will review how sessions are working for you and move at a pace that feels manageable.
Reviewing our work together
We will regularly review how counselling feels for you, what has been useful and what you would like to focus on next. You can tell me if an approach does not feel helpful. Together, we can adjust the focus and pace of sessions as your needs change.
The Types of Approaches Used
Person-Centred Therapy
Person-centred counselling gives you space to explore what matters to you. I aim to understand your experience from your perspective, without judgement or assuming that I have the answers for you.
Our relationship is central to this approach. Its core conditions are congruence, empathy and unconditional positive regard: being genuine, working to understand you, and treating you with acceptance and respect.
Psychodynamic Therapy
A psychodynamic approach explores how earlier experiences and patterns outside your immediate awareness may influence feelings and relationships in the present.
We can consider recurring themes together and what they mean to you. The aim is to develop understanding and create room for different ways of responding, at a pace that feels manageable.
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)
A cognitive behavioural approach explores the connections between thoughts, feelings, physical sensations and actions. We can notice patterns that keep difficulties going and consider practical ways to respond differently.
Where appropriate, we may agree things to try between sessions and review what you learn from them. The work is collaborative and adapted to the difficulty you want to explore.
Existential Therapy
An existential approach makes room for questions about meaning, choice, responsibility and the uncertainties of life. It can help us explore how you relate to change, loss, freedom and connection with others.
We can consider the values that matter to you and the choices available in your circumstances, without assuming there is one right way to live.
Transactional Analysis
Transactional analysis offers a way to explore patterns in communication and relationships. It uses concepts such as parent, adult and child ego states to consider how learned ways of responding can show up in the present.
We can use these ideas to notice unhelpful patterns and explore more deliberate ways of communicating and relating to others.
Vincent Akinnawo Counselling & Psychotherapy
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