Coaching and Counselling in Market Harborough and London
Professional help that works
I offer effective, professional counselling and coaching to help you navigate a challenge in your life, improve your mental wellbeing or achieve a specific goal. I can help you to make positive, meaningful and lasting change, whether you want to overcome anxiety, depression, stress, or problems with food and weight; hone your leadership skills; build your business, or recharge your career. If you are looking for an approach that works, grounded in extensive experience and training and a warm and supportive style give me a call today.
Typically my clients report significant improvements in their enjoyment of and satisfaction with life and work, having come for support with:
I am happy to offer a free 45 minute telephone consultation if you would like to understand more about how I can help you. Please call or email using the buttons.
Some recent testimonials
“Thank you for giving me my life back" (FE)
" ... Kay's understanding of people, organisational politics and the process of coaching is a rare combination, and I can highly recommend her as a coach." Paul C, Head of Corporate IT, Prudential Group
“I have never felt so understood” (KI)
“I found the time I spent with Kay helpful in enabling me to address a number of difficult issues in my life which had been making me very sad. I’m not sure how she did it, but she opened little doors in my mind that allowed questions to pop out, and answers to slip in, so that the pain of the problems reduced." (EW)
"... Kay focused on me as an individual and supported me in finding solutions that were effective both for me and for my organisation. Kay's support, and understanding of corporate life, was invaluable in enabling me to succeed and restored my self-belief and confidence ...." Richard K, Senior Manager, FTSE Company
Kay takes the time to understand the opportunities and challenges I face as a business owner and mother, and has been skilfully guiding and coaching me through it all" Louise Morriss, Founder and Managing Director, Amazon Public Relations
How I can help you
My approach is warm, supportive and non-judgmental; I hold you and your needs at the centre of my work and I work within professional ethical guidelines that protect your confidentiality and wellbeing. My skillset is unusual in the therapy and coaching professions and enables me to work effectively with the full range of material that you might bring, from mental health issues to business and leadership skills. I am trained in Coaching Psychology, Therapeutic Counselling and NLP, and have extensive real world experience of business, management and leadership, as well as twenty years in coaching, mentoring and people development.
This combination of training and experience means I can call upon a very wide range of knowledge and strategies in our work together, depending on your needs and preferences. Coaching and NLP techniques are useful for working through your thoughts, behaviours and values, while counselling approaches allow us to explore your personal history, relationships and emotional life, so that you can understand yourself better and work at depth through any issues that need to be resolved. My business, management and mentoring experience in small and large companies enables me to offer informed and practical strategies if our work is business or work related.
In addition to my core training, I undertake regular additional training in areas that might be helpful in my client work. One particular interest is in neuroscience, as our understanding of how the brain works both to perpetuate difficulties and to respond to therapeutic and coaching interventions, is growing all the time. Other areas of interest are in health and the body, and in how we as human beings find meaning and purpose. You can find out more about me below.
Why I am a therapist and coach
My transition into coaching and therapy started with two very different experiences in my twenties. I had a successful career and seemingly happy life, but was also struggling for a long time to support someone with severe mental health issues; it was very distressing for both of us. This experience gave me first hand insight into mental health issues, and I started to educate myself about them.
In the same decade I attended a management course at Cranfield Business School which explored the psychology of leadership and prompted my own further study into the factors affecting management and leadership performance. These two experiences are the foundation of a lifelong interest in people and how we function, both at work and in life.
I held a variety of senior leadership roles in the public sector and corporate businesses, leading large international teams of people, and my greatest interest lay in supporting people to do their best work. When I became a mother I set up my own successful business providing consultancy, change management and coaching services to large companies, growing it to £1.5m turnover.
During this time I invested in my own self awareness and personal growth through periods of therapy, coaching and training that I found hugely beneficial. Today I am privileged to enjoy a wonderful variety of rewarding work supporting people who are looking for therapy and coaching that works.
In addition to my private practice, I am a volunteer counsellor with a local charity, and as a senior therapist take responsibility for client assessments. I am trustee and director of a charity providing child, young adult and family support services. I am also director of Weightsense Therapy & Support, a social enterprise which provides support for people struggling with issues related to weight and eating habits.
Contact me to find out about counselling in Market Harborough or London, or coaching for personal, business or leadership development.
Principal qualifications
Other training and qualifications
Professional credentials
I am a registered member of both the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) and the Association for Coaching (AfC). These are the principal professional bodies in the UK for counselling and coaching; they have verified my qualifications and experience and have awarded me full memberships. Both organisations have Codes of Ethics, and I am committed to working within these. I am fully insured.
Kay Hoggett BSc (Hons), PGDip, Dip Couns, MAC, MBACP Offering coaching in Leicester and Central London, counselling in Market Harborough and London, and weight management therapy in City of London and Leicestershire.
Location
My Market Harborough counselling and coaching practice is within easy reach of Leicester, Oadby, Wigston, Corby, Kibworth, Langton, Lutterworth and surrounding villages.
My City of London practice is very close to Bank station and within ten minutes walk of Liverpool Street, St Paul's, Fenchurch Street, Moorgate, Monument, Cannon Street and Mansion House stations.
More about how I work
If you wish to understand more about some of the core theories and models that inform my work, please read on.
Humanistic Stance
The humanistic school of therapy has at its core the idea and belief that each human being is driven toward psychological growth - to be the best version of themselves they can be. Each person has within themselves the capacities and resources to overcome difficulties and move forward. That doesn't mean, of course, that it is easy, and many of us benefit from support to tap into this aspect of ourselves.
The practical implications of this for my work are that I don't see myself as an 'expert' and my clients as less knowledgeable people who must be guided by me. Instead, I see each client as the expert in their own life, whilst I am a person who has experience of supporting people in their work of self development..
Person Centred Approach
Carl Rogers was an American Psychologist of the humanistic school. In the 1950s he did research into which types of therapy were most effective in helping people who needed psychological support and from that research he developed the person centred approach. One of his findings (which has also been found in later research into what works) was that the personal qualities of the therapist, including being non-judgemental and empathic, and the quality of the relationship between therapist and client, are important for successful therapy.
A key idea in person centred theory is that we all tend to develop 'ways of being' that help us to cope with our lives. These ways of being feel safe and familiar, and become part of 'who we are'. Sometimes, though, we get to a point when we do not feel OK - we may feel anxious, low, depressed, or may be reliant on substances or habits that we sense are not right for us. It's as if some aspect of our way of being, that may have worked well for us, is not serving us any more - although we may not be aware of that, just that we are not OK.
As therapy progresses, we develop new insights into all of this, and start to have more flexibility in how we think, feel and behave. For example, a depressed person whose way of being was to automatically 'do anything for anybody' and to avoid all conflict, may find that they are now more discerning about what they will do, and are able to bring more energy to those things. They feel that they are being more true to themselves. Rogers saw this process as a movement towards the authentic self.
These ideas sit in the back of my mind as I work with a client. At the beginning I cannot know which aspects of the person's way of being might be causing them problems, and I would avoid labelling or commenting. As I explore with the client what is going on for them, and how their life has been, we will notice things and start to wonder what underlies the sense of 'not feeling OK'. We will work together to understand more and to develop more flexibility and
Kay Hoggett BSc, PGDip, Dip Couns, MBACP, MAC
Counsellor, Executive and Business Coach, Life Coach, Therapist
