Andrew Cooke

I work to the Core Process model, which is a mindfulness-based approach. It has at its heart the idea that all of us are inherently healthy, and that the events of childhood, relationships and society, especially during our very early years (right back to our birth), may obstruct the process of discovering our freedom. We focus on the body and the presence of each passing moment, staying with the truth of our experience. By looking at the causes of suffering in our lives, gently at first and then in more detail, we can learn to accept them before reworking them to find strength and clarity. Both therapist and client embark on these journeys of transformation together, every step of the way.

 

Psychotherapy can take differing forms, from short and targeted to a mid to long-term process on an open-ended basis. Common themes that bring us to seek help include: anxiety,
 relationship issues, 
low self-esteem
, grief, loss and bereavement, 
depression, trauma and abuse.

I am a student of mindfulness-based Core Process Psychotherapy and therefore charge a reduced rate. I am beginning my third year of training at the Bristol-based Karuna Institute, having previously studied at the BCPC in Bath. I have been working in one-to-one capacities with adults and young adults for almost ten years. I work to the Association of Core Process Psychotherapists and UKCP codes of ethics, and my work is fully supervised and insured. 

In supervision work my clients' identities remain protected. My background is in music (performance, teaching and composition) and education. Through my own therapy and studies, I have experienced ways to challenge and reformat my own patterns and ways of thinking, which I believed were indelibly etched into my life since childhood. I firmly hold confidence in talking therapy, where healing relationships of significant value can be formed. I myself can understand what difficulties and suffering life may conjure up for us, and that such obstacles may feel impassable at times.. yet there can always be ways to navigate these, and reclaim one's noble path.