Experienced Counsellor and Supervisor based
in Tavistock.
Carla Polhill
Offering meaningful connection and secure attachment within the therapeutic relationship.
Professional Counsellor in Tavistock. Qualifications and accreditations:
- Registed in British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (MBACP)
- Accredited Registrant (MNCS Accred)
- Heartwood Centre for Counselling and Psychotherapy Training (2015-2021)
Read my short story to believe that change is possible!
Like most others in the counselling and psychotherapy profession, I became a therapist later in life. This was not my first path to tread but my previous paths have led me here.
In the beginning I was a “good student” in school and many said I had a lot of promise to achieve great things. I enjoyed such accolade and, on reflection, kind of drifted through school relying on wit rather than hard work.
I was largely left to my own devices and when the time came for me to step out into the adult world, it was like emerging from the calm of a deep river into the turmoil of a raging sea.
I remember feeling overwhelmed most of the time, constantly ducking and diving, trying to appear that I still held all that promise that had been foretold. I presented as forthright and capable, while all the time feeling lost, alone and confused. I didn’t know it then, but I was as terrified as a rabbit in headlights.
That said, I had my wit and that was supported by my determination not to lose the accolades of the past and be viewed as the failure and fraud that I felt I was.
I used my academic capabilities to develop a professional career, a career where I as fighting for good, justice, equality and recognition of diversity and its value. I knew my stuff and I was good at my job but still I held that sense of not fulfilling my true potential. I solved problems for others under the flag of justice and equality and I worked harder and harder to achieve more and more. Moving nearer and nearer to burnout.
Eventually, I reached out for help. What could it be that was missing?
This is where I had my first experience of therapy and counselling. It was painful and uncomfortable and cold and warm and relieving and releasing and uplifting. Most of all, it was connecting. I realized that throughout my life so far it had been a story of disconnection, aloneness, crusading.
I learned in the therapy room what connection and attachment means to the development of self, my self esteem, my self belief, my sense of self. I realized that what I was doing in therapy was not only answering the question of what was missing, but I was acquiring it and finding ways to put it back in. I was integrating a sense of connection not only with who I am now, but with who I was then.
My personal transformation in therapy began to filter through to all aspects of my life, my relationships with my children, my parents, my romantic relationships and also my working relationships. I began to look for ways to further deepen these new relationships and this drew me further and further into the world of therapy.
So you can see, my training as a counsellor began as a client.
I have never lost sight of this and continue to focus and reflect on the individual I am working with: how they might be experiencing their lives, their relationships and their therapy. I have become a counsellor and my mission is to help more people like me from the past.
Through empathy and relationship, I am available to support you in your search for safety, meaning, and purpose in your own life. All that in the comfort of your own house through online therapy or in my therapy room in Tavistock.
Ready to transform your life?
Please note: I have limited slots available. Book your session today to reserve your spot.
