About me

DEDICATED ASSOCIATES Personal & Professional Development Solutions

with Robert Jenkins UKCP Registered Psychotherapist & ITA Registered Certified Transactional Analyst

Hello and welcome

If you're seeking professional help from a counsellor or psychotherapist in or around Bradford, either for yourself or someone you care about, this site will interest you.

This page contains the essentials about me and my Bradford city centre practice, including my qualifications and experience, how I work with people and their concerns, feedback from previous clients and background information in the form of links to other sites. The next page offers information about supervision, training, consultancy and other services.

To find out more, contact me by phone (leaving message if necessary), mobile (including by text) or email. You can be sure that your enquiry will be dealt with in strict confidence.

Robert Jenkins

Phone: 01274 491471

Mobile: 07762 266800

Email: info(at)dedicated.org.uk

Please note: we are closed for the last week of August 2008. All messages will be answered on Monday 1st September.

about talking therapies

Talking therapies such as counselling and psychotherapy are professional forms of helpful dialogue. They offer a confidential and supportive space in which life problems (examples below) may be sensitively and effectively addressed. At the same time they help generate the optimum psychological conditions for constructive change. Broadly speaking, counselling focuses on problems in life, psychotherapy on problems with life.

Counselling

If you've been affected by recent stressful events or circumstances, counselling can help you strengthen your coping strategies and recover your ability to respond more creatively and calmly to your situation. It may be offered for between 5 and 15 weekly sessions over two or three months. Most people notice a positive difference within a couple of sessions.

Psychotherapy

If you've been troubled over the longer term by ways of thinking or feeling, beliefs or behaviours that keep making life frustrating or unfulfilling for you, then psychotherapy can help you explore how these may stem from your responses to childhood difficulties or crises, then apply your 'grown-up' understanding to resolving them. By revisiting early life decisions and updating them in line with your current needs and values, it can help you further develop your natural resilience to adversity, and ultimately to take charge of how you live your life.

Most people bring with them some combination of these two types of life problem, discovering as they address them that the problem-solving and developmental aspects of therapy go hand in hand.

Couple counselling

If you come to therapy as a couple, it can help raise your awareness of what each of you is giving and getting in your relationship (or not), of how you've each changed since you got together and why, and how you might still need to change so that you each get more of what you want from each other and less of what you don't.

what i offer

For individual clients, I offer therapeutic help with a wide range of personal issues and emotional or psychological difficulties. Examples include:

♦relationships ♦stress ♦bereavement and loss ♦depression ♦anxiety ♦panic ♦parenting ♦assertiveness ♦post-traumatic stress ♦anger ♦low self-esteem or motivation ♦men’s issues ♦bullying and harassment ♦childhood abuse ♦mid-life crisis ♦sexual orientation ♦work/career issues ♦addictions ... among others

I also aim to provide a safe, confidential and non-judgemental space in which my clients may:

♦be listened to, understood and accepted ♦develop awareness of thoughts, feelings or behaviour and greater understanding of the connections between them ♦resolve inner conflicts ♦enhance 'emotional literacy' ♦clarify or strengthen identity or sense of self ♦deepen personal relationships ♦make a life-changing decision ♦improve personal or professional effectiveness.

I offer clearly contracted-for and focused therapy over the short to medium term according to client need and commitment.

For couples, I offer relationship counselling.

I also work with groups. (See 'Other Services' page for more.)

Please note – to ensure mutual protection all therapy is conducted according to a strict code of confidentiality, which may only be breached when serious harm to self or others could not otherwise be prevented.

where i work

My first floor premises is in Little Germany, Bradford's central business district. It's just a few minutes' walk from either of Bradford's train stations, Forster Square or the Interchange. Access by car is easy from the A647 Leeds Road, the A650 Shipley Airedale Road or the A658 Barkerend Road. Parking is available nearby. (Click here for a map.)

My consulting room is a comfortable and welcoming space which offers safety and privacy. There's no receptionist and no mixing with strangers in a waiting room. Appointments are timed so that you can be seen as soon as you arrive.

how i work

My work is based largely on Transactional Analysis, a systematic approach to personal development offering highly accessible models for better understanding ourselves and others, solving problems, changing and growing. TA integrates relational, psychoanalytic and cognitive-behavioural approaches and is based on the following principles:

► everyone is unique, has intrinsic worth, can think, decide their own destiny, change and grow

► the key to our present and future development lies in how we have made sense of our lived experience

► our emotional health can be enhanced by increasing our awareness of our needs and values as humans

The TA approach is user-friendly, building a trustful client-therapist relationship through clear, respectful and empathic communication while focusing throughout on the client's needs. It's also solution-focused in that client and therapist together decide on goals and how to attain them, thus aiming for the optimum use of therapy time.

training & qualifications

Five-year accredited post-graduate training in counselling and psychotherapy at Leeds Psychotherapy Training Institute and the Berne Institute, Nottingham, of which I also hold the Diploma in Counselling, plus a two-year practicum leading via examination to the award of Certified Transactional Analyst (Psychotherapy) status. I have additionally undertaken specialist training in relationship counselling, body psychotherapy and clinical supervision.

professional association

I'm a UKCP Registered Psychotherapist, and as a Registered Certified Transactional Analyst Member of the Institute of Transactional Analysis, I'm bound by its code of ethics and subject to its complaints procedures.

experience

I've worked as a therapist since 1996 in various settings, including Bradford University, the mental health charity MIND and two local NHS trusts. In that time I've helped all sorts of people – individuals, couples, young, old, men, women, straight, gay, white, black, Asian – with a wide range of problems and concerns. I also draw on 30+ years' experience of the education and health sectors, having worked in training; teacher-training; educational guidance; mental health advice, advocacy and support; management and consultancy.

my limitations

Some visitors to this website contact me with issues or needs I regret I'm not in a position to help with. Like all professionals, I have my limitations. For these cases, I offer below some 'signposts' to other sources of help:

► I'm not the right person to help the actively suicidal. If you're worried about someone who's talking about suicide, read this. If it's you that's feeling suicidal, read this.

► No counsellor is in a position to help people who are very recently bereaved. It's normal to feel depressed for a while after losing a loved one. If, after a few weeks, the depression persists, then counselling may be helpful.

► I don't normally work with under-16s. If you're concerned about the mental health of a child, contact your GP. If you're under 16 and need help with a serious problem, ring Child-Line on 0800 1111 (UK only). If you're in danger, ring the police! Also, look at Youth Fax, which is full of helpful information for young people.

► I don't see people who aren't willing to be seen. For advice on supporting someone you can't persuade to seek professional help, ring Bradford Guide-Line on 594594.

► I don't do psychological assessments or reports for the courts. Please consult a Chartered Psychologist.

► I don't offer on-line therapy. You will need to google for it. Do be aware of the risks.

► If you're looking for free counselling, ask your GP. You may have to wait between 3 and 12 months. All local universities and some colleges offer free counselling to staff and students. The HR or personnel departments of some employers may support staff through counselling, in-house or by onward referral. Other providers of free or low-cost services locally include Leeds MIND, North Kirklees MIND, Off-The-Record, Relate, and Mesmac.

► I'm not in a position to offer work placements of any kind. You could try asking local voluntary sector groups.

feedback from clients

I'm confident I can help to make a positive difference for everyone I agree to work with in therapy. Read what former clients have said about me and my approach:

► "Thank you so much for helping me these last months. ... I'm a new person."

► "Your warm and friendly approach has been completely different to the counselling I've had previously and it seems to have worked really well for me.... Your help has been invaluable."

► "I felt much better after only a couple of sessions. Wish I'd sought help earlier!"

Here are some comments from people's evaluations of personal development groups I've led:

► "In this workshop I've finally learned how to say 'No' and mean it!"

► "Bob is an excellent facilitator for this type of workshop. He is very pleasant, easy to be with, very knowledgeable, sensitive and enthusiastic."

► "First class course and organisation."

my suitability for you

So many people have given me positive feedback over the years, and it's always gratifying to know I've been of help. But I wouldn't pretend that everyone has gone away entirely satisfied – no therapist can be right for everybody, after all.

The best way to find out whether I'm suitable for you is for us to meet face to face. We can then talk in confidence and without obligation about you and your concerns, and about how counselling or psychotherapy might be useful to you. If you decide you want to work with me, we'll take it from there. If you (or I) don't think I'm 'right' for you, I'll be very happy to help you find someone who is.

Before proceeding, you may want to look at other sources of advice on working with a therapist. Denis Postle's Clients' Guide to Psychotherapy will help you focus on what's important to you in your choice of therapist and what questions to ask him or her. Or you may like to download the NHS leaflet Choosing Talking Therapies.

making contact

To contact me – whether to find out more or make an appointment – send an email by clicking here. Alternatively, please phone 01274 491471 or text 077 622 668 00. Your privacy is respected at all times and all enquiries are treated in strict confidence.

other services offered by dedicated associates

Other professional services include clinical supervision, personal development groups and workshops, skills training, mentoring, non-managerial supervision, group facilitation, team building and coaching. Click here for more.

Other Services >>