Contents
- 1 Counsellor Dean Richardson MNCPS (Accredited Registrant).
- 2 High Acceptance, Low Dissatisfaction Rates
- 3 How to Choose a Counsellor.
- 4 Dean’s Approach to Counselling.
- 5 Trust in Counsellor Dean Richardson.
- 6 Does Counselling Help… really?
- 7 Specialist Areas in Counselling.
- 8 Situations Dean may choose not work with…
- 9 Got a Question? Don't Hold Back…
Havant Private Counselling Dean Richardson MNCPS(Accred/Reg)
Counsellor Dean Richardson MNCPS (Accredited Registrant).
- Over 25+ years applied experience 100%
- Qualified Individual (Psychodynamic) Counsellor 100%
- Qualified Couple (Systemic/Psychodynamic) Counsellor 100%
- National Foundation in Group Analytical (Foulksian/Psychodynamic) Counselling 100%
- Cognitive Behavioural Approach to Counselling 100%
- 30 hours (minimum) Continual Professional Development per year 100%
- Minimum 90 minutes monthly supervisory consultation 100%
- Accredited Registrant with the National Counselling Society. 100%
- Practice fully insured / public indemnity insurance 100%
- Member of Psychotherapy & Counselling Union of Great Britain. 100%
He works with adult individuals, couples (intimate, platonic, straight, gay, mixed etc) and small groups.
Dean began formal training in 1999 within counselling charity Chichester Counselling Services, being awarded the Diploma in Psychodynamic Counselling (course accredited by the British Association for Counselling & Psychotherapy). Whilst continuing to practise counselling in charity, he set up his own private counselling practice in 2010, adding the Diploma in Psychodynamic / Systemic Couple Counselling followed by the Institute of Group Analysis’s National Foundation in Group Analysis to his portfolio.Dean is accredited and registered with the National Counselling Society – a process that demonstrates his experience, professionalism and adherence to ethics.
Dean continues to enhance his understanding and practice with monthly supervisory consultations, continued professional development and membership of the Counselling & Psychotherapy Union of Great Britain.
Currently Reading
Click for full qualifications list...
Counselling Qualifications (Primary).
Primary awards include:- Diploma in Psychodynamic Counselling (awarded July 2003 - Chichester Counselling Services - BACP Accredited Course).
- Post Graduate Diploma in Counselling Couples (awarded January 2010 - Chichester Counselling Services - Psychodynamic/systemic theoretical framework).
Primary Theoretical Frameworks.
Primary Models/Framework include:- Psychodynamic / Psychotherapeutic Counselling (individuals).
- Integrated Systemic / Psychodynamic Counselling (couples).
- Integrated Psychodynamic / Foulksian (groups).
- Cognitive Behavioural Approach to Therapy.
Supporting Certification (Primary).
Primary continued professional development ("CPD") certification & training relevant to practice.- Group / Team Facilitation Leader (Business) (Awarded 1997 – IBM, North Harbour, Portsmouth).
- Individual’s Coaching & Mentoring (Awarded 1998 – IBM, North Harbour, Portsmouth).
- Brief / focal psychodynamic psychotherapy (Awarded 2004 & 2009 – Chichester Counselling Services).
- Assessing Clients for Psychodynamic Counselling (Awarded June 2006 - Chichester Counselling Services).
- Online Counselling Skills (Awarded May 2007 - OnlineCounsellors.co.uk / Kate Anthony).
- Solution-Focussed Therapy (SFT) (Awarded June 2008 - Chichester Counselling Services).
- National Foundation Certificate in Group Psychotherapy (Awarded July 2011 - Institute of Group Analysis - Brighton/Birkbeck College).
- Certificate in Foundations of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (Awarded May 2012 - Hemmings Field Associates - "CBT With Heart").
- Working therapeutically with individuals convicted or accused of sexual offending (Awarded June 2019 - Stop/So).
Professional Membership Organisations.
- National Counselling Society (2015 – ongoing) *Note 1.
- Psychotherapy and Counselling Union of Great Britain (2018 – ongoing).
- British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy – BACP (2003 – 2018 (16 years) – resigned in August 2018 – no longer a member – *Note 1).
Professional Accreditation.
- National Counselling Society – MNCPS (Accred/Reg) – (2015 – ongoing).
- British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy – BACP – MBACP(Accredited) (2009 – 2018 (10 years) – resigned in August 2018 – accreditation by BACP no longer applies).
Professional Registration.
- Registered through National Counselling Society (number: NCS15-02454 – https://www.nationalcounsellingsociety.org/find-counsellor/results/ncs15-02454/).
High Acceptance, Low Dissatisfaction Rates
Our counselling relationship begins with an initial evaluation session (you evaluate me, and I evaluate if you might work well with my approach). In our first session, we will have some conversations and decide whether this early experience appears to have been beneficial enough to continue working together. Sometimes, extra evaluation sessions are agreed upon to help make a more informed decision, but this has been regularly unnecessary.
Two measurements highlight how people respond overall to my style of counselling: Acceptance Rate*2 and Dissatisfaction Rate*3.
During the previous twelve months (December 2023 to November 2024) my Case Measurement Rates have been:-
*1) measuring over the last twelve full months.
*2) the percentage of clients who continued to attend sessions (for at least one month) after their initial session(s). NB: some clients complete their work in a shorter time than one month; others find that a longer path benefits them.
*3) the percentage of clients who, from their experience of the initial session, felt that the service was not what they were looking for.
The average number of sessions per case is not included here. Because one client's needs differ greatly from another's, a fair comparison cannot be made. No figures are included where the clients were satisfied with the initial session and decided that this was sufficient.
How to Choose a Counsellor.
You may be wondering how you will choose a counsellor (or, possibly, a life-coach).
It may help you to know that different therapists offer different services in different ways. Counsellors are human beings (honest!), so we all have different personalities and we do our work in slightly different ways to each other, even though we may have common training. It’s the mix of services, approach and counsellor’s personality that may make one counsellor more suitable for you than others.
It’s the relationship that you and your counsellor will build together that make therapy helpful and supports the changes you’re looking to make.
Just like your friends, you’ll find you get different things out of different friends. It can be helpful to bear this in mind when you meet with a counsellor for the first time; he may feel right for you (and sometimes he may not – but that’s OK when you think that this is possibly the most authentic relationship with another human being you’ll encounter in your life).
Interview your Therapist.
My advice to you: interview the therapist. You don’t have to pick the first counsellor or coach you meet. You don’t have to get it right with the first counsellor. Plan to meet two or three for one (or more) session(s) each. Each counsellor will have things they need to learn from you in the first session (so they sometimes may take the lead) but you’re also there to evaluate the counsellor (so sometimes you’ll have questions you want to ask).
You might ask:-
- What are your qualifications?
- For how long have you been in practice?
- May I see a copy of your insurance certification / arrangements?
- How do you ensure that you’re practising to the best of your ability (eg any consultation arrangements with a supervisor or psychiatrist)?
- Are you a member of a Professional Membership Body?
If you get a distinctly unsettling feeling about the counsellor: try and put that into words (and notice how you feel when the counsellor responds to what you’ve said – this may be very helpful when you decide to work with this person or not). Sometimes a therapist may have a good reason not to answer your question, but do you get the sense of them having a good reason or a sense of a therapist who is avoiding answering you.
Trust your Instincts.
Trust your instincts when they say: “this seems to be the right person”, even if your head says “I didn’t like him”.
Your head may be telling you what you want… but your instincts can be telling you what you need.
At the end of the day, you’re looking for someone who not only respects you as you are now, but who will be respecting the person whom you wish to become (and/or the parts of you you’re looking to repair or transition). You may need someone who can sometimes challenge you (without challenge maybe nothing changes), and who will support you (“be there”) throughout your therapy work.
Choose someone who you’d like and trust to take along with you on your therapeutic journey.
Dean’s Approach to Counselling.
Different counsellors practice different models of therapy. They use different theoretical frameworks. Each has their own style on how they do this.
Dean Richardson has more than 25 years experience and his approach as a private practice counsellor will not be like you’ve seen on a television drama, or on Celebrity Big Brother, or anyone playing the part of (their imagined version of) a counsellor.
What’s Required of You.
To work with Dean in private counselling you must be capable of looking after yourself and your needs (emotionally, symptomatically etc.) in-between counselling sessions. If you believe that you will wish to make ad-hoc contact with Dean in between sessions then Dean is not offering the counselling service you believe you’re looking for.
Change Requires Courage. You will learn about yourself in counselling with Dean. You may not like what you learn or hear. It can be helpful to have a source of courage (and/or resilience) to hear and learn about yourself. Having your own support network (friends, family) is helpful though not essential.
Commitment: you must prepare to attend weekly sessions until the work is done sufficiently to leave. Ad-hoc “when you feel the need” attendance, or repeatedly cancelled sessions renders this venture ineffective.
What’s Required of Dean.
As a private counsellor, Dean’s philosophy is that you are the solution to your ailments. But at some deeper level you have forgotten that you have this autonomous resource. Perhaps early experiences in your life may have influenced your present inaction & inability. Perhaps trauma or defensive behaviour (the idea that your current behaviour is the one that will keep you the most safe) keeps you unchanged.
The counselling work may look into how your present position came about. A primary aim: to provide knowledge and understanding in order to release you from your current story. Released so that you might be able to begin writing a newer story going forward.
Core techniques may include:
- Listening: (perhaps uninterrupted for most of/the whole session) – some people appreciate their story being heard without any interruption.
- Active Listening: same as “listening” except the counsellor provides occasional feedback so that you know you’re being understood.
- Unfocused listening: a technique that can enable the counsellor to appreciate what subjects might be being avoided (even below the client’s conscious awareness). This may feed the counsellor’s choice in what he says to the client.
- Challenge: the client comes with a specific agenda/requirement – and later avoids bring up such need again. The counsellor respectfully notices this out loud with the client in order to check-in/help understood what might be contributing to any difficulties with the original need.
- Supportive: sometimes taking away the knowledge that you’re not going through your pain alone is worth its weight in gold. This isn’t about solving anything, nor giving the client “a way out”; it’s more about sitting in the client’s hell with him so that (for now, at least) he’s not alone.
- Authenticity: if you’ve ever asked someone: “How am I coming across” and their response is “Oh, just fine; absolutely fine!” and you just know that you’ve been given an inauthentic response… you’ll understand how powerful and helpful an authentic (intentionally helpful) response can be. We might also describe this as “no bullshit”.
- Analytical/Transference/Counter-transference: Dean listens not only to you, but also listens to himself (to how his words, his behaviour, his body and mind may be as a response to you and your situation) as a way to understand your position better. Sharing such information may be direct or indirect depending on the state of the therapeutic relationship. This might be described as “inviting you to notice that there’s a wood around the trees” when you, alone, are only able to see the trees.
- Psychoeducation: The sharing of applicable knowledge (psychology, human development, psychotherapy theory etc) – whilst I firmly believe that having an investment in discovering things for yourself is very powerful, sometimes people can benefit from inspiration too. This is where the sharing of, and discussion of, psychological knowledge can be helpful.
If you’re seeking someone who will effectively join you in seeking knowledge about your difficulties, who will work alongside you as a kinda-of temporarily “partner in crime”, and if you’re prepared to put in a similar amount of work into this arrangement as the counsellor will… then Dean could be just the counsellor you’re looking for.
Important Points to Note.
- Dean is not trained to work with children, or people who are currently experiencing addiction (narcotics/drugs, alcohol, food) who are looking for active/prescriptive treatment, nor psychotic disorders (e.g. breaks with reality) nor other forms of therapy such as hypnotherapy. Seek a specialist in those areas.
- Dean does not accept enquiries for appointments being made by a third party (e.g. making an appointment for someone else / trying to send someone to counselling). The person seeking counselling must make their own autonomous decision to engage with the counselling process, including making the initial enquiry.
- If you believe a counsellor’s role is to listen to your difficulties and then prescribe to you how to go about dealing with these difficulties (like a GP’s prescriptive approach would), this would be a fundamental misunderstanding of what counselling aims to achieve. Consider looking into meeting with a Life Coach (https://www.lifecoach-directory.org.uk/) if you’re looking for someone who might offer solutions to your difficulties.
Trust in Counsellor Dean Richardson.
Accreditation with the NCS confirms Dean’s substantial experience and adherence to a documented ethical approach to his counselling services.
Dean’s professional development over 25+ years expands on his original qualifying diploma in psychodynamic counsellor and incorporates a post-graduate diploma in couple counselling, a foundation in group analysis to offer group counselling and integrates additional therapeutic models such as CBT/Cognitive Behavioural approach and a group-facilitation approach.
Click to read Frequently Asked Questions on Counselling.
Does Counselling Help… really?
If a major purpose of counselling is to reduce distress levels (by bringing understanding to counter fear and raise personal affect), then, yes, counselling works.
During a period that CORE was used for measured outcome, every client using counselling with Dean* experienced a reduction of distress and an improvement in their CORE-34 measurement levels.
| Before Counselling Begins… | → | After Counselling Ends… |
|---|---|---|
| [Severe] | → | [Low Level] |
| [Moderately Severe] | → | [Mild] |
| [Moderate] | → | [Healthy] |
| [Mild] | → | [Healthy] |
*The table uses anonymous data from individuals counselling with Dean Richardson MNCPS (Accred/Reg) during 2009-2010.
Data was taken and measured using CORE Outcome Measure (CORE-OM 34).
CORE-OM 34 covers four dimensions: subjective well-being, problems / symptoms, life functioning and risk/harm.
The data shows that every client experienced improvements in distress levels.
Specialist Areas in Counselling.
Psychodynamic Counselling
Systemic/Psychodynamic Couple Counselling
Brief/Focused Counselling
LGBT/(QI) Counselling - Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, Questioning and Intersex
Counselling for Blokes
Counselling for Unwanted Sexual Behaviour
Situations Dean may choose not work with…
As an ethical counsellor in private practice, there are areas that Dean is not capable of working with (and a couple that Dean may not feel comfortable working with). I think it’s important to give you an informed decision about working with me.
- As a client you must find the capacity to be able to work along with Dean as the counsellor. If you’re thinking of presenting your problems to someone, in the hope that they will resolve them for you, then Dean is likely not the kind of counsellor you’d want.
- Dean does not provide instruction on how to resolve your personal problems, your relationship conflicts nor your group dysfunction. Dean does, however, use skills to assist you in discovering these resolutions for yourself/yourselves.
- You must be able to look after yourself in between counselling meetings (or have a support network). Inbetween-session contact is not available.
- Dean does not work with people experiencing serious psychiatric disorders (e.g. bipolar disorder, borderline personality disorder etc).
- Dean is unable to work with people who are unable to tell the difference between reality and non-reality (e.g. a psychosis or paranoid delusion). Mild phantasies (“I think no-one likes me”) are absolutely fine to bring to Dean to work with in therapy.
- Dean is a counsellor/psychotherapist. This is not the same as a psychologist, a psychiatrist, a psychoanalyst or a GP/Doctor. Dean do not provide diagnoses nor does he prescribe medication.
- Dean only work with adults aged 18 years and over. He has no training in working with children. There may be exceptions to working with teenagers (make contact to discuss).
- Dean will not accept requests to see someone who is being “sent” to counselling by a third party; no matter how well intended.
- Other difficulties may be declined if Dean considers himself too inexperienced in the subject area.
Couple counselling:
- Dean is qualified in working with domestic violence, but he may choose to decline on a case-by-case situation.
- Couple Counselling cannot “fix” your partner for you (if that’s your motivation to enter couple counselling). Conversely, If you both wish to participate in looking at the relationship’s difficulties together, couple counselling can be helpful.
- If your relationship does not engage with Dean in session (for example: you spend most-or-all of the session in an argument with each other and will not (or cannot) allow me to intervene), we have to consider if our time together is worth the session fee being paid.
Got a Question? Don't Hold Back…
Got a question about Dean Richardson's counselling services in Havant (Hampshire)? Want to make contact, maybe asking about a first appointment? Send Dean a message any time…
