James Cullen (he/him)
- Person-Centred counsellor/therapist
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Duration60 minutes
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Individual cost£60
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Group costsCouples - £60
An authentic human relationship
The therapy I offer is centred around building an authentic human relationship with my clients, so that you feel safe, accepted, supported and appreciated. I offer total acceptance of clients, as they are, in the present moment. My role is to hold a safe, non-judgemental space for my clients. In this relational setting, most people, most of the time, are able to engage in their own therapeutic work, figure out (with a little support) what they need to understand, and process stuck emotions and traumas.
A lot of the work happens between therapy sessions, with the therapy session being a place to feel and think out new edges in one’s experience. Each person’s process will be different, but over time I notice a remarkable level of convergence in the way people start to grow and heal, given the support I offer. People often end up making significant changes to their lives in ways they had not previously imagined possible.
This approach is known as the person-centred approach (which you can read more about on my website - www.jamescullentherapy.com). A key tenant of this approach is that it is client led. We move at your pace. I won’t push you into talking about or dealing with something you are not ready for. Nor will I pull you back from talking about whatever it is you need to process, even if that is very painful or upsetting to talk about and hear.
If you like the sound of this approach and think it could work for you, please feel free to get in touch. I offer an initial exploratory session at no cost so you can get a feel for whether you would like to work with me.
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Areas of practice
There is a sense in which trying to separate one area of therapeutic work from another is quite artificial. On the other hand, I appreciate that if you are suffering in a particular way it might be helpful to know whether or not a therapist can help with that particular experience. I can help with the following experiences (and others that are not listed here):
- anxiety
- depression
- personal development
- self-harm
- suicidality
- trauma and PTSD
- anger
- stress
- addiction
- bereavement and grief
- exploration of sexuality and coming out
- exploration of gender identity
- relationship difficulty
- loneliness
- feelings of being lost or uncertain
- self-awareness and self-development
- spirituality
- psychedelic integration
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Accessibility Comments
I work in a wheelchair accessible location.
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Professional accreditation
I am a BACP registered counsellor: https://www.bacp.co.uk/therapists/405581/james-cullen/exeter-ex2
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Code of ethics
I am committed to ethical and anti-discriminatory practice.
I am a member of BACP and committed to working within their ethical framework. Whilst I really do hope this never happens, my clients should make complaints to the BACP if they are treated unethically by me as a therapist.
An important part of a therapist working ethically is to treat everyone equitably and with respect and to commit to being actively anti-discriminatory in their work. Especially given my identity as a cis-gendered, white man, I am committed to continual education about groups and individuals with different experiences to my own (whilst at the same time holding in mind that each person is also an individual and their experience cannot be reduced to an average of that of the groups with which they may be identified). I work to understand and come to terms with my own privileges and oppressions in an effort to cultivate the ability to work in a more informed and sensitive way with all clients.
If you do experience any treatment from me that you feel is discriminatory, please feel you can challenge me on this, and if you are not satisfied by my response (which I really hope does not happen) you are entitled to make a formal complaint about me to the BACP.
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Qualifications
In terms of qualifications and professional background, I studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Durham, and then went on to do an MA in Philosophy at Bristol. (My focus was on the philosophy of ethics). I later trained to become a teacher, and spent 7 years teaching economics in inner-London schools where I gained as much education as I gave from some marvellous young people - it was tough but I got a huge amount from it.
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Fees statementI charge £60 per hour (60 minutes). However, depending on your ability to pay I can offer some flexibility on this for those for whom finances create a barrier to accessing therapy – this is something we can discuss in our initial session if it is relevant to you.