About

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Introduction

An “About Me” section, when finding a counsellor, aims to provide the information you need to decide whether to see the counsellor you might be interested in, and whether you believe that they are likely to suit your needs. This section might be helpful if I were to reach out with information—personal to myself—that might be helpful for you to connect with and to inform your decision.

Many counselling practitioners might agree that they are occasionally approached and asked about the reasons for becoming a counsellor. I know that when I'm asked, I offer a brief “U” rated response because my response is quite detailed. It’s also quite personal, as might be the case with some of my fellow colleagues with a personal connection to their practice and their studies.

What Will Be Covered

I’m open to connecting by sharing information about myself, including what influenced my decision to become a counselling practitioner, my training and experience, and my approach to working with clients. I will begin by sharing one of my earliest memories and will work my way up to the point when I made the decision to practice counselling. Next, I will discuss the type of therapy I practice and what I consider to be most important in my work to ensure the best outcomes for my clients. Finally, I will conclude by sharing some of my personal interests and philosophies. By reaching out and sharing a bit about myself, I hope to provide you with insight into who I am.

Early Life

I was 14 years old when I became interested in the field of counselling and psychotherapy. It was quite unusual for someone my age to want to study this field; my friends wanted to be either bankers or musicians; others even wanted to be astronauts...

From my earliest memories, I've found a sense of calm when engaged in thought and reflection. I consider myself to have always had the capacity to attune deeply in thought, and to connect with others while remaining open to exploring those realms of soul -searching.

I was often accused of “daydreaming” in class by my teacher at infant school—I still remember her well. Being labelled as “The Naughty Child” for this daydreaming didn’t seem to cure the “issue”. Struggling with focus and attention was difficult in school, but what was more challenging were the judgments from staff and my peers. I later discovered in adulthood that support was needed for a neurodivergent condition known as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) that had seemed to have been overlooked in the first instance.

Secondary School

Through to secondary school, The pressures to perform was higher than it had ever been, as by the time I had reached Year 9, the school was applying for academy status. I always believed that at this point, more focus was placed on academic achievement than on nurturing each student to attain it. I noticed a gradual decline in mental health among my peers; I was one of them!

I found myself mostly connecting with older, more mature students with whom I was able to share similar interests. Sadly, the end of their school years approached before mine, and they moved on to bigger and better things, such as college and apprenticeships. They were all intelligent, creative thinkers. They knew that the loss would be hard for me, so they collaborated on an end-of-year leaving book that they presented to me a week before they left. They wanted me to have something to remember them by. I still have it, and I still remember them and love them all deeply. These people formed the basis of what I have come to understand what friendship and acceptance means—not just because of what they did towards the end, but because of the genuine care they took when it came to nurturing their friendships with people, me included. It was hard to see them go, but I was happy that they were all moving on to pursue their dreams.

The Main Influences

There was a significant period in my life that I consider to be one of the most impactful in shaping my aspiration to go into counselling. When I was 13, midway through Year 9, I suffered from two major conditions. I developed an eating disorder, comorbid with insomnia, and to top it off, I self-harmed. This was a very traumatic time for various reasons, and it was during this period that the trauma that I had experienced had sparked my interest and laid the foundation for wanting to study a profession where its aim was to elevate emotional human suffering.

In the same period, I saw two social workers, a doctor, a nurse, and a therapist—each of whom I felt objectified, judged, and punished by. They seemed obsessed with diagnosing me and telling me what I was doing wrong. Although they were adhering to “policy,” that’s all they appeared to be doing. I don’t remember ever experiencing any genuine care from them to validate what I was going through or to truly attune to what I was saying. They didn’t acknowledge the worry I felt in their presence, and I didn’t see the human behind the masked professional label. Their words felt scripted; it seemed their primary intention was to ensure they weren’t liable, with no regard for the actual person in desperate need of compassionate therapeutic methods for real healing to occur. I left that period of my life holding onto anger, bitterness, and shame.

The Turning Point

Shortly after this period, at the age of 14, I walked past a book in the school library titled “Introduction to Psychology,” and that is where everything clicked into place. I wanted to learn not just how to act like a professional, but how to be a professional—moreover, a qualified therapeutic counselling professional. My aim was to demystify what we thought we knew and uncover what it truly takes to provide real therapy. I rebelliously kept the book, and I’ve been on this journey ever since.

What initially made me pursue a career in counselling was the injustice that I experienced growing up. The teacher I mentioned, whose name I can still remember, failed to see the suffering I was experiencing but couldn’t describe at five years old. The martial arts teacher who mistook pain and distress for "anger issues" who then began the process that meant a stream of enquiries by the authorities. The doctor prescribed judgment, which then led to a social worker who was unable to hear the story I was trying to tell, and who then referred me to a therapist who intellectualized her answers and made me feel complete shame in front of my own mother for the way I felt. It then finally led to my mother blaming herself for how I felt based on how every “professional” conducted themselves.

After inspecting the full landscape, I was a vulnerable child with no say or control over my own body, objectified, and by the end of it all, slightly angry but not allowed to show it for fear of needing the prescribed 12-step anger management program—because it was my fault again, obviously. How many others have needed therapy after a course of treatment because of being in treatment? It’s an example of what happens when a system fails to act in the best interests of a person. I became a counsellor to ensure that this doesn’t happen in my therapy room, where anyone who walks in is treated with autonomy and dignity, engaging with a real person rather than predominantly confronting policy or a mask-wearer. I'm devoted to my role as both a practitioner and clinical supervisor, and to the people I work with, because there can’t be any other way to be in this line of work.

Counselling Training

So, at the earliest opportunity—at 16—I enrolled in the first year of counselling at West Nottinghamshire College in 2008, now known as Vision West Nottinghamshire College. I was the youngest student to train and practice therapy in the UK—until I grew older of course. I studied under two tutors, both of whom were psychotherapists with established reputations and private practices built from scratch. My tutors demonstrated a compassionate and professional way of working throughout my five-year training period. This approach was miles away from what I had previously experienced in other contexts, and they laid the foundation for showing me the power of person-centred counselling, leadership, and a business approach. They taught me what real counselling was supposed to look like.

Pre - Qualification Experience

A counsellor in training must undertake placements within a counselling practice to gain practical experience; I completed two placements.

The first placement involved traveling a 260-mile round trip further north each week to a secondary school in County Durham, where I worked with adolescents aged between 13 and 17. I practiced under a private psychotherapist who had numerous school subcontracts, as well as other areas of work she engaged in within her practice. Here, I learned how to connect with individuals of secondary school age and what truly mattered to them when engaging in professional counselling services. Practising empathy, being non-judgmental, and being genuine were all essential components of the therapeutic relationship. These components were particularly important, especially when presenting concerns included eating disorders, self-harm, relationship issues, anxiety disorders, and manic depression—to name a few.

My second placement was more specialised, working with adults, children, and young people in a domestic violence service in Barnsley, South Yorkshire, who had witnessed or had been subject to violence in their lives. The experience was invaluable, as I had the opportunity to address issues branching off from this subject area in one - to - one therapeutic settings. After qualifying, I facilitated group projects, designed and developed outreach psychoeducation programs and supported trainee counsellors with their portfolio work as part of their counselling training course. This agency facilitated people on a journey whereby the aim was to show both clients accessing the service and the professionals working within the agency were victors of their /our own destiny.

Post Qualification Experience

I then moved on to work with a mental health charity startup whose main aim was to bridge the gap between the need for support and the wait time for longer-term services provided by the NHS, such as CAMHS and IAPT. I worked across a spectrum of risk levels, from low to high. The charity ran various projects in which I was involved. During my time there, my main roles included therapeutic counsellor, project coordinator, and deputy safeguarding lead.

I subsequently worked for a reputable counselling charity recognised for its work with children and young people, providing outreach services in secondary schools. I also played a key role in proposing ideas and developing a strategy to implement an online counselling service during the pandemic, when it was not possible for young people to access services physically.

More Recently

I now work in private practice as a Person Centred Clinical Therapeutic Counsellor, accredited by the National Counselling and Psychotherapy Society (NCPS). I am also a clinical supervisor engaging in supervising practitioners with their professional work. I offer services both face-to-face but also online to help increase accessibility for people whose circumstances might prevent them from engaging face to face.

Person-Centered Counselling is a therapeutic approach that fundamentally focuses on the quality of the working relationship between the counsellor and the client. Its aims are to allow the client complete autonomy to make their own decisions and to bring whatever they wish to discuss into the sessions. The counsellor does not set the agenda or dictate the work undertaken.

A person-centered counsellor facilitates the client's process by offering specific conditions that promote growth and development. Individuals engaged in person-centered counselling will experience three main conditions present in their interactions: empathy, congruence, and unconditional positive regard (acceptance).

I am currently working on a series of blog posts designed to inspire professionals and individuals seeking information relating to mental health, with any revenue generated going towards educational resources for professionals in training. Additionally, I am forming a group supervision service for both counselling practitioners and professionals from other fields who work in support roles to assist them in their work. My name is Benjamin Wright and over the course of my 13 years’ experience, I have understood my duty as a practitioner and as a professional is to ensure that I provide the best possible service to those who have taken one of the biggest steps they will ever make in their lives.

Entering a therapy room is likely to uncover parts of yourself that require an individual experience within a safe and confidential setting which is certainly non-judgemental. A setting where you are to be treated with respect and dignity. In my therapy room, you will be put first.

I'm not going to claim to be the expert; I am not going to claim to know the answers or even tell you what the answers are. The truth is, I don’t know. However, I can take my knowledge and experience to facilitate a therapeutic relationship that works towards attentiveness, empathic understanding, personal healing, and growth with whatever you decide to bring into the therapeutic space. It would be nearly impossible to describe every concept and element that counselling entails, but these are just the most important elements that I have found to be the key ingredients for good therapy and real healing.

I’ve committed to a lifetime of study—through academia, through my practice, but more importantly, through my own personal growth. I consider myself fortunate to have worked with and been trained by some of the best professionals and practitioners in the country. They were the right people who came at the right time. They taught me how to be a person as well as a professional, but never an actor. Their teachings have lived on through me and directly into my practice.

Why I Now Enjoy Counselling

I enjoy the creative elements of therapy, connecting deeply with people and taking myself out of my own experiences to enter the world of another. My journey toward becoming a counsellor was shaped by the injustices I suffered, which fuelled my mission to ensure that my practice maintains a high standard of care and is genuinely useful to those seeking support. I find great satisfaction in connecting with individuals outside the hustle and bustle of life and engaging at deeper and more meaningful levels. I truly enjoy working with the people I encounter and learn so much from these interactions. I am always thankful for the time spent with those I work with.

When studying and practising therapeutic counselling, I have always felt more connected to the universe; instead of seeing the world in grayscale, I now see it in vibrant colour. The study of counselling has ignited a passion within me that I cannot find anywhere else. The challenges I face in this field do not feel like burdens, as they did in previous roles. Instead, they present valuable learning opportunities rather than hindrances. Counselling has been a part of my life for more than half of my existence, and it has managed to integrate and adapt to the obstacles and issues I have encountered.

I have happily accepted this role in my life, as I do not foresee leaving it anytime soon—if at all. However, if the time comes to move on, I will embrace that change, though I am confident that it will not happen. This work is a force for good in the universe. As Buddha once said, “Peace comes from within; do not seek it without.” I feel at peace in this area of work; what more can a job offer than a peaceful experience?

The journey can sometimes be more painful than at other times, but my passion for this work never fades. I understand that the body knows what hurts, but with nurturing, it also knows how to heal. I believe there is more good in the world than we are often led to believe. I carry these beliefs throughout my work and practice whenever they are relevant.

So, If our paths ever cross, You’re in the driver’s seat and let’s see where the road takes us.