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Eleanor Bigden Counselling

Eleanor Bigden
Counsellor in London

Hello, I'm Eleanor and I love the work I do! I'm a fully accredited Cognitive Behavioural therapist and the way I work is strongly evidence based in research about what helps people most effectively.

I have eighteen years of qualified experience in helping people overcome trauma, depression, anxiety, stress, procrastination, low confidence and self esteem, communication and relationship issues, struggles with mood swings, unhelpful habits and addictive patterns, OCD, perfectionism, trust and sexual intimacy.

My teamwork style is very practical and encouraging, with a focus on HELPING YOU TAKE SUCCESSFUL ACTION to move from struggle to strength in the areas of your life that you care about.

It's hugely meaningful to me to help people truly heal and break free from the shackles of unresolved trauma, adversity and loss. I very much enjoy assisting people to develop an effective toolkit to build confidence, resilience and resourcefulness. My mission is to enable all my clients to truly enjoy more wellbeing and feel much better equipped to handle life's many complex challenges with resilience and strength.

You're most welcome to TAKE ADVANTAGE OF A FREE 30 MINUTE PHONE CONSULTATION.
It's an opportunity to ask any questions about my approach, and talk through options likely to help you most, without any pressure to commit. Integrity and honesty are core to the way I work, so I will give you clear information to help you make a choice that's genuinely right for you.

Drop me an email, voice message or text me if you'd like to get the ball rolling!

Background & Counselling Qualifications

My work is governed by high standards of ethics and clinical excellence from the following organisations that I am a registered member of
- The British Association of Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies
- EMDR Association of England and Ireland
- Health and Care Professions Council
- Association of Contextual and Behavioural Sciences.
This means that I which means you are guaranteed quality assistance, specifically in line with national standards of clinical excellence.

My 15 years of mindfulness meditation practice means you will have my undivided concentration, attentiveness and open-mindedness throughout your sessions.

My work is also one of my main 'hobbies', so you can benefit from my continuous research and skills development! But be warned - my enthusiasm for life and learning might rub off on you! I trust you'll find teamwork with me to be that is not only empathic and supportive, but also energising and uplifting in the midst of challenges.

My Specialisms

It's core to my professional integrity that CBT is a wise investment for you, so I offer genuinely effective treatment that is solidly based on research.

You can benefit from my 20 years of experience, training and study in these specialisms:

- building confidence, authenticity and self esteem

- handling stress, anger and anxiety healthily

- overcoming worry, depression, panic and difficulty sleeping

- freedom from addictive patterns and unhelpful habits

- transforming body image, eating and weight issues

- handling emotional and physical pain wisely and compassionately

- overcoming perfectionism and OCD

- building courage, strength and resilience in the midst of challenges

- enhancing relationships and effective communication

- deeper trust and sexual intimacy

- overcoming avoidance and turning goals into reality

- enhancing focus and motivation

Whatever you're struggling with, I can teach you a broad range of psychological skills and how to apply them in the scenarios that are personally challenging for you.

You might have heard of the many benefits of "mindfulness", which is one of my specialist areas. The ability to stay present, rather than consumed in endless thought about the past or future and helping you to really pay attention to the moment to enhance your experience of life is something you may wish to learn.

Approach to Counselling & How I Work

What's it like to work with me? You'll find teamwork with me to be very practical, pragmatic and grounded - I like helping people get unstuck and take ACTION to live with more freedom and success!

People say they're really pleased to discover that part of my style is to access the enjoyable -and even playful side - of personal and professional growth! An open hearted sort of humour can work wonders in helping us to be more accepting of our human foibles. It also reconnects us to a sense of uplift and vitality - even in the midst of great challenges.

As I see it, being authentic with each other is essential for trust and the experience of genuine human to human teamwork.

You'll find me to be truly interested, non judgemental and open minded towards your life experience, your core values and your sense of identity. I can help you cultivate a similar stance towards yourself and others - even people you might really struggle with at the moment!

By enabling you to identify what truly motivates you, the strengths you already have and the qualities you are cultivating, I can assist you to build your confidence, commitment and determination to succeed.

In our work together, I would tailor the most relevant tools, techniques and strategies to your specific needs and help you:

- Constructively and creatively respond to challenges and obstacles that have been holding you back

- Build greater confidence, motivation, skill and insight

- Positively enhance the way you relate to yourself, other people and life in general

A key question that people ask is "will CBT work for me?"… the simple, good news is: YES - as long as you're willing to put in some realistic work to help yourself. It's rewarding for me to offer an approach that's adaptable, creative and continually evolving. It means I can help you to achieve a wide variety of goals, even in the inevitable complexity of being human!

Therapies & Rates

Please note the rates detailed below are there to give you an idea of the therapists standard rates, we strongly advise you contact the therapist for more detailed rates and any offers they may have.

Therapy Appointment Type Rate
Counselling In Person £120 per 50 minutes
Counselling Online/Telephone £120 per 50 minutes
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy In Person £120 per 50 minutes
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy Online/Telephone £120 per 50 minutes
EMDR In Person £125 per 50 minutes
EMDR Online/Telephone £125 per 50 minutes
Mindfulness In Person £120 per 50 minutes
Mindfulness Online/Telephone £120 per 50 minutes
Life Coaching In Person £120 per 50 minutes
Life Coaching Online/Telephone £120 per 50 minutes

Additional Rate Information

Research demonstrates that the skills gained via CBT based therapy, coaching and mindfulness based meditation are highly transferrable from one situation to another, and have great "sticking power". An obvious outcome of your financial investment is greater success across your life in all areas, in terms of both immediate change and long term gain! I can also sometimes offer a 20% discount on extended 100 minute sessions as I want to encourage more people to choose this especially effective timeframe to truly get past blocks even in a very challenging area, such as trauma, for which EMDR is extremely effective.

Testimonials

Jennifer Horsfall on 09/05/2015

"Eleanor is a highly skilled therapist with considerable experience working with a wide range of emotional and psychological issues. Eleanor is very professional and has a wonderful warmth, clarity of mind, and attentive presence. She is passionate about her work and the capacity for people to growth and flourish. Furthermore Eleanor is very committed to professional and professional development."

JV on 14/01/2016

"Having spent 10 years managing anxiety, feeling socially awkward and feeling my confidence had slipped away, I decided it was time to take action and find a CBT specialist in the hope that it would help. I was fortunate enough to find Eleanor who provided an open and judgement free environment in which I could talk freely about personal thoughts and feelings.

Eleanor helped me to change the thought patterns I had built up about myself. With Eleanor's techniques I found my confidence began to grow, the anxiety lifted and I was able to relax into the person that I am without the constant feeling of fear and dread which had dominated my life for so long. CBT has had a major positive impact on my life, and I can highly recommend Eleanor to any one who is thinking of taking CBT.
"

Ed on 14/01/2016

" A versatile, creative therapist and coach Eleanor Bigden slips seamlessly between compassionately holding your story close to her heart and considered, pertinent challenges to the self-defeating aspects of who you are. Eleanor isn't merely highly knowledgeable and in possession of an impressively well stocked tool box of skills. Knowledge and techniques are available at the price of the nearest workshop or book. What I witnessed in Eleanor was a determination to engage and work herself as much as she encouraged me to do the same. Here was someone who was willing to draw on a life time of experience and wasn't afraid to let difficult feelings I presented her with to permeate through her. She never denied the validity of my feelings or beliefs even when she was questioning their usefulness to me.
Don't go to see Eleanor if you want to be told what to do. She will probably talk to you about teamwork. Go to Eleanor when you want an ally to face the circumstances in your life that you are struggling with.
"

Anon on 17/01/2016

"A very grounded and empathetic therapist with a multi-disciplinary approach. I'd have no hesitation in recommending Eleanor for those looking to explore issues and requiring support."

Anthony on 22/01/2016

"Eleanor is an excellent therapist and someone who I would recommend very very highly!

I had 9 sessions of CBT with Eleanor. She worked with me to find some very powerful practical techniques specific to me, which I could use on a daily basis. I experienced some very big realizations through my sessions with Eleanor, which allowed me to improve my mental wellbeing. I left each session on a high, feeling very optimistic about the week again and looking forward to putting into plan what we had discussed.

I felt very comfortable discussing things through with Eleanor. She is extremely knowledgable, experienced, professional and passionate about her work, and this made me feel like I was in very safe hands. She communicates the plan for the sessions very clearly, and regularly checked in with me to see if this was still right for me.

At the end of our sessions, Eleanor offered some suggestions of further work I can try which I have since got involved with further, and which has really helped.

I feel I have benefited hugely from my sessions with Eleanor."

Heather on 22/01/2016

"I went to see Eleanor hoping to find a space to vent, it was exciting to discover early in our work to together that this was going to be a safe place to do far more. It feels cliché to say, it's somewhere you can really find yourself, but I have. With the tools we practiced together, tools that I continue to develop outside of our work solo, I constantly challenge myself to honour my boundaries, values and needs and much much more. Eleanor helped me finally meet myself with the compassion I was happy to visit on everyone but me at the start of our journey, I say our journey, as these sessions are most certainly a collaboration.

Quite simply when I went to Eleanor I was in an emotionally abusive relationship, co-dependent, with a chronic back problem and significant anxiety and depression, barely able to leave the house without a struggle. Now I travel widely, love my single life, work as an actress and have a full and enriching social life.

I feel I made all of these choices for change myself but with a wonderful light shining by Eleanor helping me to realise my ability to make decions and be on my own team. I used to scour the Internet reading testimonys like this one and think, yes but I'm too far gone, I won't change - but this time I really have and firmly believe, because of this work, with commitment, change is possible for us all. It takes courage to make the first step but having seen many therapists I have never felt so empowered and understood. I truly believe working with Eleanor is a privilege that has changed my life"