| Hello, My name is Jim Byrne, and I have been in private practice as a coaching
and counselling psychologist/philosopher for more than eleven years; at ABC Coaching and Counselling Services,
in Hebden Bridge and Halifax, West Yorkshire, UK; and worldwide over the internet and the telephone system. As at 5th January
2010, I am in my twelfth year of continuous private practice. During that time I have had the privilege of helping more than
550 individuals, including many couples, to learn how to cope more effectively with their practical, emotional, thinking and
relationship problems. As a result, they got very much better lives than they had thought possible. To see what some of them
said about working with me, check out the Client Testimonials page. I have recently semi-retired in order to focus on writing about the theory and practice of Cognitive
Emotive Narrative Therapy (CENT). |
I was originally trained
as a Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapistby Dr Al Raitt, who was himself trained by Dr Albert Ellis, in New York
City. Up to the time of his death, Al ran the Institute for REBT in Bristol. I successfully completed a one-year training
programme there as a Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapist, or REBT therapist: (December 1998 - November 1999), which accords
me Qualified Therapist Status. I also completed a three year Diploma course, as described below, "...in Humanistic,
Existential, Psychoanalytic, Behavioural, Cognitive, Cognitive-Behavioural, Eclectic and Integrative Theory and Procedure".
And, more recently, I have undergone updating and refresher training in REBT at the new Centre for REBT at the University
of Birmingham. Lately my interests have turned towards the integration of Rational/Cognitive therapy with Narrative
and Psychodynamic therapies, plus Object Relations and Attachment theory.
Contact
details: Dr Jim Byrne
Doctor of Counselling
ABC Coaching and Counselling Services
27 Wood End, Keighley Road,
HEBDEN BRIDGE
West Yorkshire
HX7 8HJ - UK Telephone:
01422 843 629 (from inside
the UK) 44 1422 843
629 (from outside the UK) Email: Dr Jim Byrne at ABC Coaching ~~~ I have an MA in Education, which included a significant amount
of psychology (Open University, 1994: 01908 653003); a Diploma (with Distinction) in Counselling Psychology and Psychotherapy
(Rusland College, Bath, 2004: 01225 313184); a Professional Certificate in Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy (from the Institute
for Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy, Bristol, 1999); plus a Primary Certificate in Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy from
the Albert Ellis Institute, New York. (Confirm with the Registrar of the International Society of Professional Counsellors,
at ISPC Website.). Here are some of my accreditations/registrations:
- Licensed
Fellow of the International Society of Professional Counsellors- (Confirmable at ISPC Website);
- CCC-Registered Counsellor- (Confirmable at Counselling CCC Website);
- Charter Member of the International Positive Psychology Association,
which promotes happiness coaching and enhancement of the lives of individudals and communities around the world. (Confirmable
at IPPA-Network Info).
My Doctorate in Counselling is from the University of Manchester. (Confirm
by email to: Dr William West or Dr Clare Lennie at the Education Faculty). This involved studying: (a) Approaches to mental and emotional health and psychopathology;
(b) Counselling, psychotherapy and society; (c) Counselling in various contexts. In addition: (d) I studied current
approaches to the teaching and learning of research ethics in counselling and social care contexts; (e) I wrote my thesis
on the subject in item (d); and in parallel (f) I began a study of how to model the mind of the counselling client.
Unlike the situation in the USA, British counsellors/psychotherapists agree to be subject to lifelong
supervision of the quality of their work, and the nature of their relationships with their clients.
I currently receive regular supervision (or consultative support) from a senior colleague: Professor Ed Jacobs PhD, the creator
of Impact Therapy, which is a much earlier form of integration of REBT and TA than my own Cognitive Emotive Narrative
Therapy (CENT). See: Ed Jacob's CV; and the Impact Therapy Associates website. I send occasional session tapes to Dr Jacobs, and we discuss my work by email and telephone.
I am also subject to both the ISPC and CCC Complaints Procedures. (See the *Accreditation and Ethics* page on this website.; and the ISPC Website; and also the Counselling CCC Website).
My style of working is more like a "friendly philosopher" and "wise guide",
combined with a "warm parent figure", than a "cold and clinical doctor". I use an eclectic/integrated
range of thinking and narrative frameworks to conceptualize client problems, especially Rational Emotive
Behaviour Therapy (REBT/CBT); supported by elements of Transactional Analysis (TA); Zen Philosophy; and other modern narrative
therapies, including neo-Freudian conceptualizations, like the British Object Relationsschool (e.g. Klein and Fairbairn);
and the Attachment Theorists, Bowlby, Main, etc.
My aim is to help you to "become
your own coach/counsellor" in the shortest possible amount of time, so you can manage your own life better; resolve your
own problems; and pursue your own goals. An integral apsect of the journey is the development of a secure attachment
capability in you.
What I do best is to help you to reframe and resolve your problems, to become more secure and
Adult, and to tenaciously pursue your goals in every area of your life, in a surprisingly brief period of time. To discuss
possibilities, or to get an information pack, please email Jim Byrne, Coaching and Counselling Psychologist/Philosopher, at
ABC Coaching and Counselling Services. Or you could read and download the Information Pack on the Information Pack page.
If you wish to telephone me, then please call me on 01422
843 629 (from inside the UK) or 44
1422 843 629 (from outside the UK).
~~~ If you are still wondering why you should use my services, rather than those of many
dozens of others in this business, then please take a look at the Client Testimonials page.
I have been steeped in the world of counseling, psychology and psychotherapy since 1968,
when I had a partial Freudian analysis for problems to do with my relationships with my parents. In the 1970s, I explored
the person-centred philosophy of Carl Rogers; and in 1980 began to study and use Fritz Perles' Gestalt Therapy to promote
my own personal development, and to resolve some of my own problems of daily living. Also from 1980, I began to study Zen
philosophy, and to practice daily meditation; and in recent years I have completed a couple of years of Zen Koan training.
Also around 1980, I began to study Positive Thinkingand to do daily autogenic training, to change my consciousness
from negative to positive. In 1984, Renata and I went through marriage guidance using Transactional Analysis (TA), and I then
went on to take further training in Relationship Skills, Communications Skills, and various other personal and professional
development systems. Then in 1992 I began to study Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy (REBT), and subsequently added in up
to twelve other therapies.
My principal goals in life are to be happy
and healthy, and to teach other people how to be happy and healthy. In this sense I am primarily a 'happiness
coach', rather than than a 'deviner of psychological sickness'! I also am committed to living a successful life, and teaching
the psychology of success to others.
I am steeped in the daily experience of psychological struggles.
Not only am I a trained and experienced psychologist/counsellor/therapist, but also I am a survivor of the kind of psychological
struggles with which you are currently grappling. How do I know the kind of psychological struggles with which you are grappling?
Because I have studied philosophy from the time of the Buddha, two thousand five hundred years ago; and psychological theories
from the time of Freud onwards; and I know in my bones: "Life is suffering for dolls like us!" But there is a solution
to human suffering, or a set of solutions; and they have to do with learning how to manage your thnking, your goals and your
emotions.
Give me a call, or email me, and we can discuss working together.
Jim Byrne
Doctor of Counselling
Coaching and Counselling Psychologist/Philosopher,
Cognitive Emotive Narrative Therapist
and Philosophical Coach
ABC Coaching and Counselling Services
Email: Jim Byrne at ABC Coaching.
Telephone: 01422 843 629 (inside
UK); 44 1422 843 629 (outside UK).
~~~ |