Pauline Matthews

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Hi, I am Pauline, and although I was trained in the Person Centred tradition I call myself a Creative Counsellor, as I like to work with imagework, visualisation and meditation, where appropriate.

I chose the Person-centred approach as I believe with greater self-awareness , a more informed choice is possible.
“Such a person is more potentially aware, not only of the stimuli from outside but of ideas and dreams, and of the ongoing flow of feelings, emotions, and psychological reactions that he or she senses from within” (Carl Rogers –‘A Way of Being’)

I felt I wanted to expand my awareness of inner consciousness so went on to study Art and Person Centred Counselling, Gestalt and Colour Therapy . Using this knowledge I feel I am able to help people become more aware of their inner selves and not be restricted to thoughts alone.

I have recently retired from my post in the NHS , as an Orthoptist, using counselling insights to help children and adults with their emotional problems. I also used to work as the Staff and Student Counsellor in a College of Further Education . I now work solely at home in my Private Practice.

I undertook my Supervision training in 1998 at the Graduate School of Education, Bristol University.

My interest in online counselling was triggered by an interest in communication and the Internet. I became aware of how the globalisation process could bring people closer together. I discovered Counselling Online Ltd and undertook the specialised advanced training in Online Counselling.I also designed the two websites for Online Counselling Ltd to be used in both Therapy and Supervision.

I have been a tutor for the advanced course that specialises in client-work and supervision. I have worked extensively with my supervisees, both one-to-one and in groups.I am now the Campus Counsellor of the group.

We have worked with real-time conferencing and with email, which has given me much experience of the advantages and disadvantages of both.

During the course we have looked into the uses of images, drama-work, and using different fonts and colours in our writings. We have coped with the vagaries of the Internet and learned how to cope when technical problems occur. Counselling agreements , payments and online ethics have to be addressed, which are all different from a face-to-face situation.

It has become clear to us that Online Supervision can be very effective, in many ways. It could be used in conjunction with face-to-face Supervision when distances travelled are too great. It is especially useful for online counsellors as the online supervisor will be more aware of the process .

My clients and supervisees have come from around the world and I am particularly interested in how this medium can help people who may be isolated geographically become more connected to others, and to the world around them.

If you are interested in learning more about me and how I work,

please visit my website at http://www.creatingrainbows.co.uk

or contact me at matthews.pauline@btinternet.com