About Janina
I am a relaxed and non-judgemental, fully qualified, BACP senior accredited Humanistic counsellor, wingwave coach and am currently training to become an accredited EMDR Therapist. I am trained and experienced in working with young people and adults.
In 2007, two years after completing my degree in Psychology and Counselling at The University of Surrey Roehampton, I began working as an Intensive Support Advisor for Connexions Kent and Medway (now CXK). Here I supported young people aged 13-25 in schools and the community with their mental health and wellbeing as well as housing, benefits and employment. Within this role I completed a 2 year Foundation Degree at Canterbury Christchurch University in Working with Young People and Young People’s Services, as well as a 6 month certificate in Supervision Studies.
In 2015 I completed the final stage of my counselling training; an Advanced Diploma in Humanistic Counselling with West Kent College, which qualified me as a counsellor and made me eligible for registered membership with the BACP. In 2018 I received Accredited status with the BACP, demonstrating my high standard of knowledge, experience and development in counselling and in 2022 I gained senior accredited status for my work with young people. Up until April 2021, when I left the charity, I continued to work part time for the charity CXK as their Senior Counsellor and Wellbeing Advisor, delivering counselling in schools and colleges as well as coordinating this service, line managing and supervising counselling staff and acting as a designated safeguarding lead.
Alongside private practice, I work for a secondary school in Maidstone as their 6th form school counsellor. I deliver clinical supervision to counselling staff who work with young people in a school in Kent. I also deliver annual counselling careers talks to psychology students.
In 2007, two years after completing my degree in Psychology and Counselling at The University of Surrey Roehampton, I began working as an Intensive Support Advisor for Connexions Kent and Medway (now CXK). Here I supported young people aged 13-25 in schools and the community with their mental health and wellbeing as well as housing, benefits and employment. Within this role I completed a 2 year Foundation Degree at Canterbury Christchurch University in Working with Young People and Young People’s Services, as well as a 6 month certificate in Supervision Studies.
In 2015 I completed the final stage of my counselling training; an Advanced Diploma in Humanistic Counselling with West Kent College, which qualified me as a counsellor and made me eligible for registered membership with the BACP. In 2018 I received Accredited status with the BACP, demonstrating my high standard of knowledge, experience and development in counselling and in 2022 I gained senior accredited status for my work with young people. Up until April 2021, when I left the charity, I continued to work part time for the charity CXK as their Senior Counsellor and Wellbeing Advisor, delivering counselling in schools and colleges as well as coordinating this service, line managing and supervising counselling staff and acting as a designated safeguarding lead.
Alongside private practice, I work for a secondary school in Maidstone as their 6th form school counsellor. I deliver clinical supervision to counselling staff who work with young people in a school in Kent. I also deliver annual counselling careers talks to psychology students.
Personal Philosophy and Counselling Approach
I am a Humanistic Counsellor, with the Person-Centred approach forming the bedrock of my practice, drawing upon the theories and techniques of Gestalt, Transactional Analysis and CBT where appropriate. In line with the Person-Centred account, I believe that each individual has worth and is essentially good. With this I believe that all behaviour, no matter how destructive to self or others, is, at its core, an attempt to survive and grow as best we can in whatever conditions we find ourselves in.
I believe that nobody knows better than you, what it is like to be you and so I regard each person as the expert in the room. Together we will work collaboratively; combining my training, experience and genuine interest, with your experience of being you, to support you to reach your desired goals. I will not advise you what to do but rather support you to make your own choices in your best interests.
As we move through life, we may experience pressures and expectations from society and people we know. Many of us don't like to be judged and seek other's approval and so we might change our behaviour to meet these expectations. As we strive to change we can often then steer away from who we truly are. We might pretend to be someone we are not and effectively over time we can begin to lose touch with our true self. The aim of my approach is to raise your awareness of who you really are and support you to feel and be yourself again
I believe that nobody knows better than you, what it is like to be you and so I regard each person as the expert in the room. Together we will work collaboratively; combining my training, experience and genuine interest, with your experience of being you, to support you to reach your desired goals. I will not advise you what to do but rather support you to make your own choices in your best interests.
As we move through life, we may experience pressures and expectations from society and people we know. Many of us don't like to be judged and seek other's approval and so we might change our behaviour to meet these expectations. As we strive to change we can often then steer away from who we truly are. We might pretend to be someone we are not and effectively over time we can begin to lose touch with our true self. The aim of my approach is to raise your awareness of who you really are and support you to feel and be yourself again
“Change occurs when one becomes what he is, not when he tries to become what he is not” (Beisser, 1970)
I believe that our childhood experiences are significant to how we approach our lives in later years and therefore it can be valuable to reflect on your memories in therapy. Time spent exploring your past can support you to move away from or update outdated survival strategies and beliefs that although once kept you safe, are now no longer helpful.
For clients for whom words do not come easy or to access information on the edge of our awareness, I might invite more creative methods such as use of stones, drawings, photographs, song lyrics, music, poems, images and symbols. Creative methods can offer powerful and innovative ways of exploring a situation, offering an abstract way to access inner states, meaning and feelings.
For clients for whom words do not come easy or to access information on the edge of our awareness, I might invite more creative methods such as use of stones, drawings, photographs, song lyrics, music, poems, images and symbols. Creative methods can offer powerful and innovative ways of exploring a situation, offering an abstract way to access inner states, meaning and feelings.
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