©2021 Katie Watson
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“Not everything that is faced can be changed. But nothing can be changed until it is faced." - James Baldwin
Counselling and Psychotherapy in Aigburth, Liverpool and online
I offer both short and long-term counselling and therapy for adults in Liverpool and online. I am committed to creating a therapeutic space for us that is safe, non-judgemental, empowering and collaborative, where we can actively work towards the change and growth you want to see, and where I walk beside you on your journey as an equal.
As a psychotherapist, I am interested in the stories we tell ourselves, especially those stories that seem to replay at times of stress, loss or great change in our lives, like “I’ll never be good enough” or “this was always going to happen to me”. At some point in our history, these stories may have enabled us to survive, and they can be incredibly nuanced and multi-layered. These stories can determine how we look out into the world, make sense of it and how we engage with other people. Eventually these stories may need rewriting, re-evaluating or shedding completely so that we can move forward. Together we will work to understand your story and how it has lead you here. In doing so, this makes room for a new story to be told and a new self to emerge.
Often, I find that people come to therapy either feeling lost, stuck or confused, unable to picture a way forward. I believe that a lot of the distress we feel comes from things outside of our control. We may not be able to change or stop the events taking place around us, but we can change our relationship to them, how we think about them and how we respond.
My practice is easily accessible from Aigburth (L17), Mossley Hill (L18), Allerton (L18), Woolton (L25), Speke (L24), Garston (L19), Wavertree (L15), central Liverpool (L1, L2, L3, L8) and Warrington (WA1).
My approach
I use Transactional Analysis (TA) as my main way of working, a humanistic and versatile form of therapy that focuses on rediscovering your agency and giving voice to the different parts of ourselves (i.e. feelings, thoughts or behaviours) that we either push aside or keep hidden. TA acknowledges the vibrancy, diversity and complexities of each person and I encourage all of my clients to do their own reading around the model as it is very accessible. I also incorporate other therapeutic tools and approaches into my work to broaden and deepen the therapeutic experience for my clients, such as:
Any tools that I introduce into our sessions beyond traditional talking therapy will be with your consent, discussed with you first and aligned with your therapeutic goals. You will be able to easily practise any of the tools I use without me at home.
I can work with a broad range of issues, and I have a particular interest and experience in these areas:
I am a queer, trans-affirmative and neuro-inclusive therapist. I am very passionate about working with the neurodivergent community.
Find out more about my background and training here.
Length of therapy & Session fees
Typically, short-term work can mean anything from 6-12 sessions. If you would like short-term therapy, I ask that we commit to having at least 4-6 sessions together initially, and then review. I find that this focusses the work and provides a clear date for discussion of progress. If you need more sessions, we will usually extend for another 4-6 sessions and review again. Long-term work is generally anything beyond 12 sessions.
Ultimately, how many sessions you might need will depend on your goals and the nature of the issues we work on. The pace and length of our work together is entirely unique and varies from person to person. If we decide to work together, we would usually meet on the same day at the same time on a weekly basis for 60 minutes. I see clients weekly to start with and will only switch to fortnightly when we have built a positive foundation. This is to give the therapy the strongest possible start.
My session fees are:
Initial session (30 minutes) - Free
Full therapy session (60 minutes) - £50
Reduced rates available for a limited number of clients on a low income. Please let me know on first contact if you need to discuss a reduced rate.
Getting started
I offer a free 20 minute initial session where we can get to know each other a little more and chat about the reasons why you've come to therapy. I may ask you some questions about your background just to get a sense of what it is like to be you, and you are welcome to ask me anything about how the process works.
We can also explore any specific goals you may have in mind for therapy. It’s absolutely fine if you are unsure of what your goals are at this stage - often, these naturally become clearer as we're going along. Here, I use 'goal' in the broadest sense. We can use our initial session to discuss practical arrangements too, like what day and time it would be suitable to meet, and how often.
Therapy space
© Katie Watson 2024