Gavin Beard

Gavin began his training in Counselling and Therapy in 1998 and helped pioneer Brighton & Hove’s first non-NHS residential detox service within the city. He is passionate about helping those experiencing addiction as well as other conditions and giving them full access to a wide range of support services whilst working alongside them as they embark on their recovery journeys. He has developed a range of inpatient and outpatient programmes to help facilitate healing & has a special interest in relapse prevention.

Over the last twenty-five years he has worked in a range of settings in both Charitable and Private Healthcare facilities, managing programmes and teams. Throughout his practice has broadened his interest to those experiencing depression, anxiety and trauma as well as difficulties with interpersonal relationships be they personal or professional.

It is his belief that the person as a whole needs to be seen and understood within the current and historic nature of their present circumstances. He brings attention to holistic well-being in terms of body, mind and spirit as they indeed we, are all interconnected.

In 2015 he began his training in EMDR and qualified in 2017. He has been successfully treating trauma using the EMDR and is currently completing his Accreditation. Being greatly informed by the Canadian trauma expert Gabor Mate who best describes trauma as “It’s not so much about what happens to you and more about what happens inside of you as a result of what happens to you”. This understanding relates to how one feels about and views themselves, others and the world around them. Trauma affects our sense of selves, our esteem and our relationships not only with others but also our environment and has a significant impact on our daily lives, often preventing us from reaching our full potential, living full and happy lives.

It is his belief that whatever the situation may be, it takes courage to face up to our struggles and this is where therapy can offer some real and lasting change in a non-judgmental and safe setting. Once the need for change has been identified, sometimes we struggle with knowing how to implement these changes and may even fear what life may be like should we commit to the process.

We often experience real feelings of vulnerability and rarely in his experience do we feel fully confident at the point of change. It takes time, patience, support and understanding to establish these new patterns in our lives and become comfortable with the person we aspire to be and are indeed becoming.

Central to the process of transformation is that we feel supported, our needs and feelings acknowledged including the challenges we invariably face with change, and that empathy – the human bond that links us all – is present and clearly communicated.