Jackie Robertson – About me and my therapy practice

Working with Adults and Young People.

I have been working in education for the last 14 years with children, young people, and their parents/carers. This work is of great interest to me and has provided a wealth of knowledge and experience in understanding the diverse challenges of parenting; from feeling overwhelmed and underqualified to managing the often-complex relationship issues of their friendships, to school-related stressors and challenges.

Whatever has brought you to Counselling my aim is to work collaboratively with you while you figure out what steps to take to make improvements in the quality of your mental and physical health in flexible and creative ways, always empowering you to develop your unique personality.

I work with the BACP Code of Ethics and use a Person-Centred approach which underpins my work with adults and young people. Our therapeutic alliance will be based on a providing a confidential environment and include using a framework that consists of a variety of models. This means I aim to build a trusting relationship which will enable you to talk about whatever is on your mind. Because making changes in your life and discovering more about yourself can bring about feelings of vulnerability and instability, it’s important that you feel safe, respected, understood, and not judged for who you are; I will offer you a calm, confidential and safe therapeutic environment, and provide the core conditions of unconditional positive regard, empathy and acceptance. These conditions will build deep rapport and trust to support genuine progression towards what you wish to achieve.

Young people aged 11-18 years, experience continuous physical, cognitive, social, and emotional development and growth at a time when their lives are full of uncertainty and expectations. As they move away from family involvement into a new social system with friends and peers’ engagement with hobbies and interests can shift and change. They can become overwhelmed with feelings of anxiety, anger, confusion, isolation, loneliness, low self-esteem, worry, and powerlessness. This can be occasional or ongoing.

I believe that working with young people requires an additional skill set from that used with adults. I use a Proactive approach which enables me to meet the young person wherever they are in their developmental journey. My aim is to work collaboratively and includes a primary concern of exploring and understanding them, respecting the thinking on which their story is based. This provides an opportunity to develop strategies and techniques that make sense and empower the young person, and are a good fit for their personality.

I support and enable them to have a positive experience of counselling as they navigate an often-complicated journey toward a safe and happy adulthood.

I work with a range of presenting issues including:

Addiction, affairs & betrayal, anger, anxiety, anxiety-related school refusal, bullying, depression, domestic violence, family breakdown, family illness, gender, identity, life transitions, low self-esteem, men’s issues including fathers and male carers, mental health, neurodiversity, parenting, other relationship issues, self-harm, separation & divorce, stress, suicidal thoughts, trauma, woman’s issues.

Qualifications

• Certificate in Counselling Young People L5
• Diploma in Person-Centred Counselling L4
• Children & Young Peoples Workforce, learning disabilities and support services L3
• Children Matter: training for professionals working with children and young people L3
• Emotional Literacy Support Assistant (ELSA