Morrell Counselling

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Morrell Counselling

I’m Rebecca, a BACP Accredited Counsellor and Supervisor with 15 years of experience. I work with adults on a wide range of issues.

I offer face to face sessions from my private office in Meltham or telephone/online appointments. Sometimes when going through a difficult time it can be easier to talk to someone who doesn't know you, won’t judge you or tell you what to do. The counselling relationship is confidential and gives you the space to say things you may not usually feel comfortable saying for fear of being judged or upsetting loved ones. You may not completely understand the way you are feeling, and you may find it useful having someone to guide you through an exploration of your feelings and thoughts. It is important for you as the client to feel safe, in a trusting, honest and supportive relationship with your counsellor. The strength of the relationship itself is essential for the counselling process and for this reason it is really important that you find the right counsellor for you. Counselling can help with: relationship problems, anxiety, depression, bereavement, low self esteem, eating disorders, self harming, work related worries, stress, trauma, divorce, poor health, anger. Counselling is not just about listening, or about giving advice. The counselling relationship provides a secure base from which you can explore difficult feelings, experiment with different ways of being and start to make changes or work towards goals. I started training as a counsellor at Leeds Metropolitan University where I completed the CertHE in Interpersonal and Counselling skills. I completed my training with the DiplomaHE in Therapeutic Counselling, also at Leeds Metropolitan. The core approach I work from is the Relational Approach which maintains that the relationship between client and counsellor is of key importance. I may use other tools or theories where I deem it may be of use in a session. I’ve found working creatively in particular has been beneficial with a number of different clients. I am a member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) and therefore I work to their ethical standards. I am working towards BACP accreditation. In addition to my private practice I have gained over 3 years experience from working at Bradford Counselling Services. A project in Bradford City Centre offering counselling for all ages and various issues. Other courses I have completed include but are not limited to: Bradford Bereavement Support training course, Transactional Analysis (TA101), Basic Awareness in Domestic Abuse, CAMHS Introduction to Children and Young People, Self Management Coaching for Long Term Health Conditions, Working with Problem Gamblers and Affected Others

26/01/2026

You might have said this to yourself many times. We live in a culture that prizes being independent, but truthfully we weren’t designed to carry everything alone.

We don’t expect ourselves to fix our own leaky plumbing or perform our own dental work - why do we treat our mental/emotional health differently?

Counselling isn’t there to “fix you” - it’s about having a skilled partner to help you navigate the map of your own life. I know the bravery it can take to reach out for help when you’ve been telling yourself “you should be able to deal with it by yourself” for a lifetime.

You don’t have to keep doing it alone.

20/01/2026

Why the “Fine Print” is the Kindest Part of Therapy

When we think of “boundaries” or “contracts”, we often think of rigid rules or cold paperwork, and may feel uncomfortable delivering them or adhering to them when our main aim is to support a client seeking our help. A clear contract, with firm boundaries, is one of the most therapeutic tools we have, and that’s why it’s something we must repeatedly turn to during our work.

As a counsellor and supervisor, I view the contract as the “container” that holds our work together.

It creates safety: When you know exactly what to expect regarding confidentiality, cancellations, and contact, your nervous system can relax. There are no “hidden surprises.”

It protects the work: Boundaries prevent the relationship from becoming blurred. By keeping the focus purely on your growth, we ensure that the space remains entirely yours. This is a professional relationship, not a friendship, and it can be difficult to return to the former if the boundaries are broken.

It models healthy relationships: For many, the counselling room is the first place they experience a relationship with firm, respected, and consistent boundaries. This is powerful practice for life outside the room, and helps to model what we should be expecting in other healthy relationships.

It prevents burnout: For us as practitioners, a solid contract ensures we stay healthy and present, allowing us to give our clients our very best without overextending.

A boundary isn’t a wall to keep people out; it’s a gate that defines where the safe space begins.

To my fellow therapists: How has tightening your contract changed your practice lately?

To those considering therapy: Does having a clear agreement make you feel more or less at ease?

Let’s chat in the comments. 👇

15/01/2026

“Do you ever talk about me after I leave the room?”

It’s a question I’m sure many clients wonder about, especially after sharing something deeply personal during a session.

The honest answer?

Yes!

Here is why (and how) it happens:

• Supervision is essential: To be the best therapist I can be, I meet regularly with a supervisor. We’ve worked together since my training, and that trust allows me to be open about my work. I share your story and my reactions to it so that an objective professional can help me support you more effectively.

• Preventing Burnout: Counselling can be an isolating profession due to it being a confidential service we offer. Having a safe, professional space to discuss my work ensures I stay mentally healthy and supported as your practitioner.

• Teaching & Solidarity: As a supervisor to other counsellors myself, I sometimes share “anecdotal evidence” to explain a theory or help another counsellor feel less alone.

The Golden Rule: This is never “gossip.” It is always done with care, purpose, and strict confidentiality, and will usually be an amalgamation of multiple clients in one story rather than one specific example.

I talk about our work because I care about the quality of care you receive - talking about it is beneficial for the both of us.

13/01/2026

Choosing to start counselling before a “breaking point” is an act of proactive self-care, much like seeing a doctor for a persistent ache rather than waiting for a medical emergency. It is common to fall into the trap of comparing your struggles to others, mistakenly believing that because someone else has it “worse,” your own pain doesn’t qualify for professional support. However, mental health isn’t a competition, and you don’t need to be “broken” to deserve a space to heal. Accessing support early allows you to build resilience and develop tools while you still have the emotional energy to do so, ensuring that your challenges remain manageable rather than becoming a crisis.

Why early intervention matters:

• Preventative Maintenance: Addressing patterns now prevents them from becoming deeply ingrained habits.

• Emotional Capacity: It is easier to learn coping strategies when you aren’t in a state of constant survival mode.

• Validation: Your internal experience is valid regardless of how it looks compared to the outside world.

08/01/2026

❄️ Winter is for Rest, Not Just Resolution

The world tells us that January 1st is the time to “hit the ground running,” but the season is telling us something very different.

Outside, the trees are dormant. The days are short. The earth is resting. Yet, we often feel this immense pressure to overhaul our entire lives, hit the gym daily, and “find a new me” while it’s still dark at 4:30 PM.

If you’re feeling more like hibernating than hustling, that isn’t a failure—it’s alignment.

How to protect your peace this month:
• Audit the “Shoulds”: Are you starting that habit because you want to, or because you feel like you should? If it doesn’t add energy to your life, let it wait until Spring.
• Gentle movement over exhaustion: If a high-intensity workout feels like a chore, try a slow stretch or a walk in the crisp air. Balance is about listening to your body’s current capacity.
• Focus on addition, not subtraction: Instead of “cutting things out,” try adding things that feel cozy and nourishing—a warm tea, an extra hour of sleep, or a good book.
• The “Slow Start” Rule: You don’t have to have your whole year figured out by January 31st. Life isn’t a race, and your “new me” is allowed to emerge slowly.
Remember: You don’t need to be “new” to be worthy. You are allowed to grow at your own pace, even if that pace is a crawl right now. 🕯️✨

06/01/2026

Back in the office for the first time in 2026 today. I’m so glad the snow has melted this afternoon - it can be so disruptive and makes getting out and about that bit more stressful!

My shelves need a bit of a tidy, a couple of cobwebs have appeared in my absence and it might be finally time to replace one of my (many!) heating devices in this space. I think 2026 might be the year I give this room a bit of love and attention, she’s served me well for the last nearly 10 years but it might be time to give her a bit of a glow up!

Do you change anything in your environment when we reach winter? I love the twinkly lights of festive season, maybe I could put some in here to make it more cosy? I’ve been meaning to get a blanket or two to have draped over the chairs, and maybe it’s time to update these now rather bobbly cushions. I definitely need to bring back my Himalayan salt lamp, I love the rosey warm glow it gives.

I’d love to have more plants in here to make it feel more fresh and alive…but that’s precisely the problem…I might be able to support people to grow but plants are a different story 🤣

Just some inner brain waffling as I sit here waiting for my next appointment to arrive….

21/12/2025

And breathe….

I’ll be signing off now until the New Year. I will be available via email but may take slightly longer than usual to respond.

Wishing you all a relaxing enjoyable winter break/festive season.

19/11/2025

What first springs to mind when someone mentions self-care practice? A bubble bath? A massage? An hour with a good book? A run? Time with loved ones? All great suggestions for proactive self-care activity.

For me, setting boundaries is the most crucial component of self-care practice, and the thing that can be quite often left ignored.

While bubble baths and quiet time are wonderful, and can go a long way to nourishing us if used as part of our daily lives, true self-care quotes establishing clear limits, drawing a line around our energy, time and emotional space to prevent depletion and resentment. By saying “no” to things that drain you or violate your personal values, you are saying “yes” to your own well-being, preserving the inner resources you need to be able to show up fully, authentically and sustainably for yourself and the people you care about.

Counselling can be a part of your self-care practice. Spending 50 minutes on weekly basis, talking solely about ourselves with no need to worry about being judged and no fear of burdening the other person - is a rarity and something that doesn’t often happen in day to day life.

It’s important for us to take care of ourselves in order to be able to show up for others.

07/11/2025

This Socrates quote came up in a session today. I couldn’t remember the exact wording so went searching for it.

I think one of the really important things for counsellors to acknowledge is that we won’t ever reach a status that means we know everything. For me it feels dangerous to ever think we can reach a point where we can deal with every single client with every single issue they bring due to experience or training. My personal belief is that humans are far more complex than that, we can never completely master working with humans in the way that we do. I learn something new from every single client I work with and expect that (and hope that!) to always be the case.

This is why supervision is SO important both for myself and the clients I work with. We are continually learning, be that through clients, through training or through our own life experiences.

That being said, it’s a funny thing to portray to prospective clients. Clients seek out counsellors for their help, assuming they have the tools and experience to help them. Generally speaking, I absolutely do! I do know lots of stuff! However I am continually checking in with my supervisor to make sure I am not missing anything, my own experience clouding my judgement, being IN IT with a client makes it impossible to be entirely objective, and even in supervision we can’t be entirely so as we always enter relationships with our own baggage. However having that additional degree of separation allows a supervisor to helicopter view over the work we are doing to ensure we are practising safely and ethically with the clients best interest at the forefront.

Sadly as this profession is not governed, the wide range of experiences people have in both and counselling and supervision is quite honestly shocking. I hear far too many stories and it’s incredibly disenchanting to be a part of that. I hope in whatever way I can, the passion I have about what I do, and the way that I do it reflectively and curiously with both clients and supervisees helps set the example to those who experience it of how things can be.

05/11/2025

I spent a few years at the start of my career working with GamCare offering counselling sessions for Gambling addicts and the loved ones affected by gambling behaviour.

I’d never really considered working with this client group, it wasn’t something I’d ever engaged with myself, and at the time wasn’t something particularly prominent in the media. I remember learning that at the time if you presented at the GP with gambling addiction issues there was no pathway for them as to how to manage!

The work taught me lots about working with gambling addiction - I think a common assumption people make is that it’s all about money. I learnt that the gambling can be covering up far more than just money woes, it can be used as a distraction, a hope for the future, a boost of self worth or confidence, an excuse to socialise, a sense of status - addiction can cover up all sorts and counselling can help make sense of what’s feeling it for you.

If you or a loved one are effected by gambling and would like to seek some support please do get in touch.

03/11/2025

When I have my own supervision, I spend some time writing out a list of all the clients and supervisees I have seen over the previous month, and write a few sentences summarising the work with them. If anything particular has happened over the month that I feel I need to talk about I make sure to keep a note of it over the month so I don’t forget. I approach supervision with some fluidity in terms of who and what I talk about, I like to have the freedom to see what naturally comes out of the conversation with my Supervisor. I don’t have to nor have the time to cover everyone and everything every month, so each month I consider who I’ve talked about more or less over the recent appointments. If I notice there’s one client I’ve never brought up, I think it’s really important to talk about them, and potentially explore why I’ve been avoiding talking about them.

For me it’s really important to bring my client work - and for supervisees to do the same. Supervision isn’t there to catch you out, it’s there to help you reflect on your work continually, to ensure there’s nothing on the edge of your awareness that you aren’t noticing.

It’s not solely about your clients, and I’ve definitely had sessions over the years where I’ve spent the whole 1.5 hours talking about my own life, but it’s important that doesn’t happen every session.

As a supervisor part of my job is to protect your clients, and I can’t do that if you don’t share your work with them.

Not all supervisors will work like me, and that’s okay, and maybe that approach isn’t a one size fits all. People who want to be continually curious, reflect and understand the edges of their awareness will definitely benefit from the type of supervision I offer.

26/10/2025

I’m having so much fun using AI to create content at the moment. I thought i’d experiment with making some colouring in pages! I am a big fan of colouring in as a self-care practice, a way to switch off and reconnect with a creative little person within. I often say I’m full of creativity with little skill so colouring is the perfect way to get creative with no skill required! Let me know if you give it a try!

And on that note, it’s time for me to switch off from work for a week over half term. See you in November!

Address

Morrell Counselling, Carlile Institute Business Centre, 54 Huddersfield Road
Holmfirth
HD94AG

Website

http://www.morrellcounselling.com/

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