Built from the community, for the community.

Hannah

Student Placement Coordinator

I'm the Student Placement Coordinator here, and a qualified counsellor working with adults. I joined Counselling in the Community in 2019 — first as a student counsellor on placement myself, then, after qualifying, as someone helping the next intake of trainees through theirs. Two things have kept me here: the people inside the organisation, who genuinely look after one another, and the difference the service makes locally.

Zoe

Counsellor

As a qualified integrative counsellor, I work from the belief that no two people arrive needing exactly the same kind of support. I'm trained across a range of approaches — among them CBT, person-centred, solution-focused, transactional analysis, and creative and play-based work — so the therapy can shape itself around you, rather than the other way round. My practice is trauma-informed and neurodivergent-affirming. In plain terms: I'll meet you at your pace, take your experience seriously, and won't expect you to mask or perform to be understood. That matters most when what you're carrying feels heavy or hard to put into words. Much of my work is with people navigating complex trauma, eating disorders, and neurodivergence — but whatever's brought you here, you'll find a calm, flexible space and a counsellor willing to work with the whole of you.

Helen

Counsellor

I'm a qualified person-centred counsellor with additional training in working with children and young people (11+), alongside adults. Person-centred work means exactly what it sounds like: you set the pace, you choose what we bring into the room, and my role is to listen properly while you do. Much of my experience is with neurodivergent clients — autism (including PDA), ADHD, and dyslexia — and with people working through trauma, bereavement, domestic abuse, and questions of identity. I've also supported looked-after children whose counselling follows life-story work, and I'm experienced with EHCP-linked referrals. Whatever you arrive with, you'll be met with warmth and respect. This is your space to be heard exactly as you are, and to shape your own story in your own words.

Lucy

Counsellor

No two people arrive in therapy with the same story, so I don't work from a single script. I'm an integrative counsellor, which means I draw on different therapeutic approaches depending on what will genuinely help the person in front of me. What I offer first is a calm, non-judgemental space — somewhere thoughts and feelings can be spoken out loud without fear of getting them "wrong". From there, we work together to build healthier coping strategies, grow resilience, and find steadier ground through difficult experiences and transitions. I hold an honours degree in counselling and have supported adults, children, and young people through a wide range of emotional and life challenges. Whatever you're bringing, you'll be met with warmth, care, and the time to be properly heard.

Chris T

Counsellor

I draw on person-centred, CBT, and psychodynamic approaches in my work — different routes into different problems, which lets the therapy shape itself around what you actually need. I'm currently finishing my Level 4 Diploma and moving on to Level 5. Much of what I work with comes from everyday life: addiction, anxiety, depression, bereavement, phobias, stress and work pressure, relationship difficulties, and questions of motivation and direction. I'd particularly like to play a part in breaking the stigma that men don't talk about how they're feeling — and to encourage more men to open up, to me, and to each other. Outside the therapy room I'm a drummer, rarely far from music. Whatever brings you here, you'll find someone willing to meet it without judgement.

Clive

Counsellor

I'm a qualified psychotherapist trained in person-centred therapy, and I've been volunteering at CITC for three years. Most of my work here is with mature students — people balancing study with the rest of life, whose mental health doesn't always fit neatly around either. Person-centred work means you set the pace. There's no agenda I'm trying to steer you toward. My job is to listen properly and to hold a steady, non-judgemental space while you work out what you need.

Mel

Counsellor

I'm a qualified person-centred therapist working with adults and young people. I joined CITC in 2020 while I was still training, and I've stayed on since qualifying. Before counselling I was a primary school teacher — much of what I do now is supporting young people through mental health difficulties, alongside parents whose children are navigating oppositional behaviours or ADHD. I draw on a range of approaches depending on what's needed — AMBIT, low-level CBT, PACE, and solution-focused work — so the therapy can shape itself around you, rather than the other way round. Outside the room I'm usually planning the next trip (Norway is the place I keep going back to), listening to 90s rock or live music, and being bossed about by my two cats, Kevin and Marvin.

Andy

Counsellor

As a person-centred counsellor, I work from the belief that you are the expert on your own life. My job isn't to fix or advise — it's to offer the warmth, safety, and non-judgemental space you need to reconnect with yourself and find your own path through. I've been at CITC for two years now, and I'm genuinely proud to be part of this team. Whatever brings you here, you'll be met without judgement and given the time to be properly heard.

Emma

Placement Counsellor

I'm a placement counsellor studying the person-centred approach — a way of working rooted in the belief that, given the right kind of listening, people can find their own way forward. My job isn't to steer you; it's to walk alongside you at your pace. What I try to offer is a safe, supportive space where thoughts and feelings can be set out in the open without rush or judgement. Sometimes that's what's been missing — somewhere to be properly heard and understood, exactly as you are. Outside of counselling I spend as much time by the sea as I can. It's where I find my own calm, and a reminder that steady, unhurried space can make a real difference.

Chris R

Placement Counsellor

I'm a placement counsellor, currently in training and supporting clients as part of my placement. There's a thought I keep returning to that shapes how I want to work with people: "We can't control what has passed or what will come — what we can control is our ability to free ourselves from being responsible for things that are out of our control." For me, counselling is a space to set down what isn't ours to carry, and to look more clearly at what is. Whatever's brought you here, you'll be met without judgement and given the time to be properly heard.

Anna

Placement Counsellor

I'm in my first year of a Level 4 Therapeutic Counselling course — a long-held ambition I'm finally putting into practice. Some of what I bring to this work isn't on a syllabus. A difficult upbringing, leaving home at 18, and the obstacles I worked through afterwards have given me a deep appreciation of what good support can do, and an instinctive empathy for people who haven't always felt heard. At 41, I'm proud to be training in the work I always meant to do. Alongside my studies I work part-time and I'm mum to a lively, sassy two-year-old daughter. In my spare time I'm happiest out in the Lake District with my husband, daughter, and friends. Our cat Rocky is very much part of the family too. What I bring into the room is what those experiences have asked of me — patience, empathy, and the willingness to truly listen.

Jenn

Placement Counsellor

I'm a person-centred placement counsellor. What I offer is a space where we can slow things down and start to make sense of what's going on for you. I bring ten years' experience as a coach, supporting people who are neurodivergent, alongside lived experience of chronic illness and disability. I'm particularly aware of how easy it is to feel misunderstood — even when you are being seen. Outside the therapy room I'm a tattoo collector, and I'm usually listening to music far heavier than most people would choose. It cuts through in a way words sometimes don't.

Sam

Placement Counsellor

I'm training as a therapeutic counsellor at Preston College, and the path here started long before that. I've always been drawn to mental health and psychology, and in my twenties I volunteered with the Samaritans — that's where I learned that the most helpful thing is often simply being properly listened to. Outside of training I work in education and I'm mum to twin teenagers, so I'm familiar with the everyday realities of family life, school pressure, and the way emotions show up at home. You'll find me patient and non-judgemental. Whatever you bring, you won't need to tidy it up for me first.

Lewis

Placement Counsellor

I've been a volunteer counsellor here for over two years, working in a pluralistic way — which in plain terms means I don't have one fixed method. I'll listen to what you're carrying, then shape the way we work around what feels right for you, not the other way round. I'm currently training further as a CBT therapist, which sharpens the practical side of what I can offer — useful tools and ways of thinking that help when challenges feel stuck rather than just spoken about. Away from counselling I travel as much as I can. Different places and different ways of living are a reminder that there's rarely one right answer to anything.