Kerry Thorpe

I offer Imago relationship therapy to couples, which is very different to standard couples therapy.  Imago focuses on the connection between two partners, what they bring to the space between them and a safe way to explore difficulties, desires and how past experiences may be influencing relational responses today.  Loving, curious, positive communication is encouraged in Imago and couples can then take those skills with them beyond the therapy.

With individual, one to one therapy, I offer a person-centred approach or a behavioural approach of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), or an integration of the two.  Person-centred is client led, prizes the client as the expert in their own life and works at their pace.  ACT is value focused, supporting psychological flexibility, which can help with anxiety, depression and stress.  ACT encourages us to live the life we want to live that aligns with our personal values, without anxiety or low mood obstructing us in this.

I am an experienced, established counsellor (since 2011) and registered member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP), with thousands of hours practice accrued within the NHS.  I worked in an expert reference group for the BACP, co-writing the BACP Workplace counselling competence framework and I am the author of the supporting user guide for this framework.

​I trained as a counsellor, following a career in HR and Marketing, as my compassion for people motivated me to work in a career where I could give clients a focused atmosphere of unconditional positive regard, empathy and suspension of judgement to allow them to explore, move and grow in their own way.

I worked within Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh NHS Foundation Trust for over ten years, progressing from Staff Counsellor, to Counselling Services Manager to Business and Operations Manager within an Occupational Health NHS Joint Venture.  For eight of those years I managed counsellors and multiple counselling services, providing services to a variety of public sector organisations.