Emma Pryke - Profile

If things just don’t feel right, your quality of life is suffering, and you feel you need specialist counselling support, I provide a safe, supported and confidential environment in which to help you to find comfort and release from painful feelings and situations linked to stress, anxiety, trauma, illness, addiction and loss.

I am a qualified, experienced BACP psychotherapist/counsellor who specialises in working with adults and teenagers above age 15 in times of personal, family or career distress and transition. I work using a person-centred approach and offer brief solution-based therapies, including cognitive behavioural therapy and mindfulness, and longer term therapies which are tailored to meet your needs.

Working together, I can help you to gain greater personal perspective and develop and extend your personal resources and coping strategies. I’ll help you prepare firm emotional foundations from which to recalibrate your attitudes and behaviours, revitalise your hopes and future plans and accomplish a better work life balance.

Who I work with

I frequently work with clients who experience:

• Social anxiety and low self-esteem
• Post traumatic stress/depression following a single event such as pregnancy loss/job loss or redundancy, divorce or separation/bereavement
• Post traumatic stress following sustained trauma/multiple events – abuse and childhood trauma,
• Stress related disorders including Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, panic attacks, phobias, self-harm
• Relationship issues
• Addiction/substance misuse (alcohol, drugs, internet, gambling and sex)
• Birth and bonding/parental support issues
• Living with chronic/terminal illness
• Work/life balance needs and careers coaching

All of these can leave you feeling isolated, overwhelmed, sad, confused, anxious or scared. Especially when turning to friends and family for support proves a challenge or has not been sufficient.

So, if there are short term issues that life has thrown at you or longer term problems that you just can’t get on top of and which are affecting your wellbeing, I am here for when you want to take that first step towards development and discovery.

As you become more at ease in psychotherapy, I introduce you to tried and tested behavioural change and coping techniques to prepare and enable you to make attitudinal, behavioural, career and lifestyle changes. This can include building up your personal relationship, resilience and relaxation skills.

Together we can create a step change in how you manage and maintain your emotional and physical health and how you can prevent relapse.  So, you’ll be better prepared to self-care in times of challenge and crisis.

Approach

I am a humanistically-trained so my work is person-centred and founded in the belief that we are all personally resourceful even if we need a helping hand to recognise and rediscover this.

I offer both brief counselling and longer term therapy in which we’ll take an in depth look at your behaviours, values and feeling about particular situations/issues. We’ll explore your narrative at different life stages, health and lifestyle profile, family and cultural background, identify relationship patterns and consider other socio-biological factors that have shaped who you have become. And we’ll discuss how these have made an impact on your past choices, emotional and physical health and could impact your future relationships and life choices.

I draw upon Transactional Analysis, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Gestalt and Mindfulness. Where needed for career and lifestyle development, I may also draw upon Motivational Interviewing and Executive Coaching and Leadership techniques.

I can see you at The Eaves in either Farnham or Godalming. By prior arrangement, I can see also you at your place of work. I offer both day-time and evening appointments including Saturday mornings. Face-to-face therapy sessions, can, if required, be offered in combination with email, telephone or video assisted support counselling services for clients that need more intensive therapy.

Physical exercise is a proven antidote to stress and depression. I also offer combined ‘walk and talk ‘sessions from our Godalming and Farnham offices based in the beautiful Surrey countryside for those who wish to benefit from a holistic mind-body therapeutic approach.

I bring over 30 years professional mentoring and coaching executive experience from the private and public sectors, the last ten of which have been working within the NHS in London and Surrey. I trained as a counsellor in 2012 and with my principal practice at St. Richard’s Hospital, Chichester supporting NHS Professionals from all disciplines and staffing levels, dealing with issues from work life balance to addiction, trauma and relationship issues as well as providing counselling support to patients living with chronic and terminal illness.