The Lightwell Practice, 8 Chapel Hill, Skipton BD23 1NL
Counselling and psychotherapy
Hello and welcome to my website. Contact me at sheila@lightwellpractice.co.uk
About me
Hello there
Hello there
Hello there
I am a qualified counsellor and registered member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy, offering short- and long-term therapy with adult individuals. My particular interests are mental health and wellbeing, relationships (with ourselves, others and the wider world), and working with the impact of abuse and loss.
Meet me
Hello there
Hello there
I am based at the welcoming Lightwell Practice at High Corn Mill, situated just beyond Skipton's High Street at the edge of the Castle Woods.
Let's talk
Hello there
Let's talk
We meet for 50 minutes in a comfortable and confidential setting. Each session is an exploration of you and your life which can lead to benefits including insight, catharsis, connection and change.
How counselling can help
If you don't feel right
If life doesn't make sense
If life doesn't make sense
Are you anxious or down, angry, stressed or overwhelmed? Maybe your moods are unpredictable or you can't get motivated? These painful feelings could be telling you something. Counselling helps you work through your emotional weather towards accommodation and change.
If life doesn't make sense
If life doesn't make sense
If life doesn't make sense
How did you end up here? In this situation or with this person? Does life keep knocking you down? Reflecting with a counsellor can make sense of your journey so far, clarify where you want to go from here and identify next steps.
If you're lonely
If life doesn't make sense
If relationships are troubled
Maybe everyone else seems busier and happier than you? Therapy can help you connect with yourself, release your drive towards the world and develop your interpersonal skills. The functional relationship with your counsellor acts as a template for future relating.
If relationships are troubled
If relationships are troubled
If relationships are troubled
Maybe you give too much and don't get enough back? Or maybe you draw away from others and then struggle with their reactions? Therapy helps identify your needs and patterns so you can start to rebalance your relating style.
During loss or change
If relationships are troubled
If you're stuck in the past
We all face challenges like bereavement, illness and separation as well as new relationships, work changes or parenthood. A counsellor gives impartial and committed support, helping you honour your feelings and address the right questions.
If you're stuck in the past
If relationships are troubled
If you're stuck in the past
This stops you moving forward, trapping you in guilt, shame, sadness or rage as well as rumination and defensive behaviours. Therapy helps you understand, process and integrate the past to free yourself in the here and now.
Some thought-provoking quotes
On needing change
...under the tall grass of an apparently untamed future the steel rails of fear and habit were already laid. What he suddenly couldn't bear... was to act out the destiny prepared for him by his past, and slide obediently along those rails (Some Hope, Edward St Aubyn)
On being lost
Each new thing he encountered in life impelled him in a direction that fully convinced him of its rightness, but then the next new thing loomed up and impelled him in the opposite direction, which also felt right. (Freedom, Jonathan Franzen)
On wanting to break free
He'd have liked to be a scholar himself... making great discoveries about the deepest nature of things. [But] as far as Malcolm knew there were no openings in scholarship for a bright boy with a canoe. (The Book of Dust, Philip Pullman)
On changing moods
Roy is rollicking Roy the wild ride of a mood, and Pam is sediment Pam who stands on the shore and sobs. One mood is the meal, the next mood is the check. (Surrender the Pink, Carrie Fisher)