About Ashwood Therapy

What’s on offer at Ashwood Therapy?  What does the service specialise in?

There are so many counsellors advertising online - how do I choose between them all?

Read on to meet Rob and learn about his professional training and experience

Ashwood Therapy is run by Rob Oglesby B.A. (Hons) BSc MBACP (Accred) and offers an online counselling service through video call, instant messaging (text) and email therapy to clients throughout the world.  Rob is a U.K.-based, British Association for Counselling & Psychotherapy (BACP) accredited, counselling therapist qualified to degree level in therapeutic counselling.

Rob specialises in providing support to gifted individuals with a high IQ, and has himself scored within the top 2% of the general population in a recognised IQ test.  He has extensive experience both in the area of general mental health counselling and also in the specific area of bereavement and loss.  He has a particular interest in working with British ex-patriots living outside of the U.K., having spent periods living overseas himself.  Rob served as an Executive Committee member of the Association for Counselling and Therapy Online (ACTO), helping to establish and further the practice of online counselling around the globe.  He has received specialist training in online therapy in addition to his core psychological practitioner training and also has several years of experience working as a counselling skills tutor in U.K. further education (FE) settings.

Ashwood Therapy is able to provide a discreet, professional and private service to its clients.  The therapeutic work offered by Ashwood Therapy is fully covered by specialist professional insurance, and Rob is registered with the Information Commissioner's Office in the U.K. for the processing of sensitive personal information.  You can be assured that your privacy is of the utmost importance.  Why not take a look at what clients and colleagues have had to say about Rob on the testimonials page?

Rob is trained in the humanistic-existential orientation, and works predominantly within the Person-Centred Approach to counselling.

The Humanistic Psychology Movement

The humanistic approach to therapy came to the fore in the 1950s, as an alternative to forms of psychological practice such as Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalysis and B.F. Skinner’s behaviourism.  Humanistic psychology extends phenomenological and existential ideas from some of the great thinkers of the 19th and 20th centuries.  The humanistic idea of human nature is one of hope, potential and of personal growth.  It is an optimistic model which believes that people are essentially ‘good’, and that given the opportunity they will strive towards ‘self-actualisation’ (put simply, they will endeavour to be the best they can be).

Person-Centred Counselling

Dr. Carl Rogers (1902 - 1987) pioneered the person-centred (or ‘client-centred’) approach to supporting people in difficulty, and devoted his life to learning and refining the principles of how best to foster an environment conducive to personal growth.  He found, through his own first-hand clinical experience, that clients would be freed to live their lives in more productive and fulfilling ways if they were offered a space where they would feel understood and valued.  When he was able to engage fully and honestly in the therapeutic relationships he had with clients, this activated the clients’ innate ability to think creatively and look honestly at troubling situations they were facing.  More can be found about Dr. Rogers’ work in the Useful Websites section of the Ashwood Therapy website.

I’ve heard about ‘BACP accreditation’, is this important?

Can’t any counsellor offer online therapy?

Will my counsellor know how to work ethically online?

British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP)

Rob is a BACP-accredited and registered practitioner; BACP is the largest professional body for counsellors and psychotherapists in the U.K.  They publish a document called the Ethical Framework for Good Practice in Counselling & Psychotherapy, which sets out how member practitioners like Rob should work with clients to ensure that the therapy engaged in is safe and ethical.

The BACP operates the BACP Register, which is approved by the Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care.  It lists member counsellors and psychotherapists and is authorised to do so  under a scheme set up by the U.K. government’s Department of Health.  Rob has been a member of the BACP Register since it was introduced in 2013.

The BACP also operates an individual ‘accreditation’ scheme, which permits members to use the post nominal title ‘MBACP Accred’ when they have successfully applied for the designation.  In order to apply for BACP accreditation, counsellors must demonstrate that they are they are an advanced practitioner with at least three years’ experience.  Therapists wishing to apply must also have completed at least 450 client contact hours and need to have demonstrated their theoretical understanding and awareness through  a comprehensive case study process.  The BACP accreditation scheme is your assurance of quality service provision in the U.K. counselling sector.

Specialist training for online working

Working at distance is a specialism that requires comprehensive training in how to manage the therapeutic alliance remotely.  Although many counsellors may advertise as providing therapy online, it is best to check that they have been specifically trained in e-counselling by a reputable training provider.  Such training allows a practitioner to appreciate the ways in which working online is different to working in an offline setting.

Rob's advanced online counselling qualifications are validated by the Counselling and Psychotherapy Central Awarding Body (CPCAB).  Formed in 1993, CPCAB is now the leading awarding body for counselling education in the U.K.  Since the early days of online working, the Association for Counselling and Therapy Online (ACTO) pioneered remote therapeutic support, promoting best practice and ethical development in the field.  Rob attained Senior Professional member status at ACTO and also ran the organisation's membership office for over two years.