Jay Barkus

A man wearing a black jumper looking at the camera. He has a wooden bookshelf filled with books behind him

Children & Young People’s Integrative Counsellor

  • Children (aged 8+)

  • Young People

As a humanistic integrative counsellor, my work is underpinned by the Person Centred Approach. Person or client-centred therapy is based on the view that everyone has the capacity and desire for personal growth and change, given the right conditions. My work is very much trauma informed, because the impact that early childhood traumatic events can have on a person can be deep rooted. Trauma, neglect, shame and vulnerability, leave us unable to emotionally regulate, which hugely impacts how we make and keep healthy relationships and how we interact with the world and those around us. Recognising the significance of trauma means that I work with compassion and sensitivity, helping clients to make sense of how they experience themselves and their shame

When working with children and young people, I work with where they are at developmentally and place them at the heart of the therapeutic process. I encourage them to explore their feelings and thoughts, helping them to gain a better understanding of who they are, meeting them with empathy and acceptance, celebrating their resilience, strength and courage. I ensure that our sessions go at their pace, listening and accepting them and helping them to establish effective coping skills, through offering counselling which centres upon their unique experience of how they view the world around them, empowering them, encouraging their self-awareness and supporting their growth

I will bring curiosity, acceptance and understanding into our sessions, allowing them to just be who they are, free of judgement. They will have full autonomy to own their sessions and to bring whatever it is that they are looking to share. Our therapeutic relationship will be built upon mutual trust, where they will be held, valued and supported. Dan Hughes’s PACE model is woven into my style of counselling and where appropriate, creative strategies will be used to encourage the young person to open up

I have experience of working with and helping to support the following;

ADHD, Anxiety, Autism Spectrum, Bereavement and Loss, Bullying, Coercion, Depression, Domestic Abuse, Eating Disorders, Image and Identity, Mood Disorder, Neurodiversity, Relationships/Friendships, Self Confidence, Self Esteem, Self Harm, Suicide Ideation and Trauma.

I am committed to ongoing personal and professional development, which means that I work safely, ethically and in the best interest of each of my clients. I also undertake regular supervision in line with the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy ethical framework, hold a current DBS, Data Protection and Insurance.

Availability

I practice from Sunrise Wellbeing in Groby on Friday afternoons and also have online sessions available, either on a Wednesday or Thursday afternoon, between 6pm to 8pm.

To make an enquiry, please visit our contact page.