Chloë J Hickson – Integrative Psychotherapist
Why I am providing the service
For the past nine years I have worked with various learning disability services in Cornwall. While the services themselves were often well run with committed staff teams, I became aware of a lack of therapeutic support for the service-users themselves. Anxiety, depression, low self-esteem and poor assertiveness skills are very common in people with learning disabilities and these conditions are often exacerbated by a shortfall in specialist support.
I was managing a service myself and found it impossible to source affordable local therapists who had experience in learning disability services. Knowing how effective Psychotherapy can be for a variety of common mental health conditions, I wanted to translate this to learning disability services, so I left service management and began to train as a psychotherapist.
My qualifications
As an integrative psychotherapist I hold practitioner’s diplomas in hypnotherapy, counselling and psychotherapy and am fully accredited, insured and undergoing regular supervision and CPD. Over the past nine years I have had extensive training in the learning disability field from, among others, the National Autistic Society, British Institute of Learning Disabilities, and the Family Planning Association. I also hold additional qualifications in Makaton, Sign Supported English (BSL 2), Person Centred Planning Facilitation and have a BA (Hons) in social policy from the University of Kent.
What I provide
My experience in developing and managing services gave me a real passion for wanting to raise the benchmark for service provision and try to break down the barriers that can prevent people with learning disabilities from accessing the services they need. I now combine the skills and experience I gained in learning disability services with my role as an integrative psychotherapist to bring person-centred, accessible therapy into learning disability services, to support managers and staff teams, provide guidance and direction to family members and carers and, ultimately, to help improve the lives of the clients themselves, helping them to get the most out of life.Please call 01872 271800 or email to discuss your needs further or to arrange a free, no obligation consultation.