COMPASSIONATE CATHOLIC COUNSELLING

Together we can explore your situation in a way that leads to fresh perspectives...

Welcome to

Ave Maria Counselling Services

Catholic Counselling Online & Face to Face

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Welcome, and thank you for visiting Ave Maria Counselling Services. My name is Carmel Ward. I provide Catholic counselling online and face-to-face to individual adults.

About Me

I'm a practising Catholic and my faith and understanding of the dignity of each human being is foundational to my counselling practice. In 2015 I commenced a journey of self discovery and spent four years studying to be a Person Centred Counsellor. This was an amazing journey and I want to give back what I have learnt and therefore see counselling as a vocation which I am truly passionate about. My hope is that my clients will feel seen, heard and valued and will allow me to walk beside them on their counselling journey of self awareness towards personal growth and recovery.I am a registered member of the BACP and an accredited registrant with the NCS. I maintain a high standard of professionalism by complying with their ethical frameworks and codes of conduct. I hold a Level 4 Diploma in Therapeutic Counselling, Certificates in Trauma Informed Therapy and Recovery, the Cruse Foundation Certificate for working with Bereavement Online, Telephone & Counselling Certificate and many CPD certificates which enhance my learning which is ongoing.


My qualifications are stated below:

CPCAB Level 4 Diploma in Therapeutic Counselling

Online Telephone & Counselling Certificate

Cruse Bereavement Foundation Certificate

"I felt I was in safe hands with Carmel. It was important to me that I could speak openly about my faith journey and it's centrality to my struggles. She listened compassionately to my story and helped me to navigate my way through the complexity of an emotional bereavement. With her experience of trauma, she offered me reassurance, understanding and encouragement to address the issues that were creating obstacles and prohibiting me from letting go and moving on. The techniques and strategies Carmel offered have enabled me to recognise, acknowledge, better understand and ultimately manage my emotional responses. I feel stronger and more at peace because of our work together. Thank you Carmel"

"Carmel was an excellent therapist in that I really felt her presence in the therapy - connecting not just intellectually with what she was saying but also emotionally and through feeling. I really felt she understood and gave me techniques to manage my trauma in a really effective and positive way - moving forward in life and recovering from trauma and not letting it dictate to me or have too much control or steering over me. I cannot say enough how much she has helped me. I still use her techniques and keep what I have learned in mind everyday and it has really helped me to lead a calmer happier more positive life. I cannot say thank you enough. Thank you!!"

"Carmel Ward is a most wonderful therapist. She helped me find out what my therapy goals were, which I could neither name nor describe at first. Carmel showed respect, kindness, professionalism all the time. When something she said was not clear at first, she would rephrase and explain what she meant, until she was confident that I understood her. I cannot stress enough how patient Carmel was. However bad I felt, she was there to support me emotionally. She was my support, I could tell her everything and knew that she has the professional knowledge to guide me. She always respected my values. She stayed calm and positive throughout our video sessions. I feel like a completely new person thanks to Carmel's guidance. I highly recommend working with Carmel Ward. Thank you so very much!"

"Carmel is a wonderful therapist. She has helped me work through some very difficult issues from my childhood and has been nothing but kind, caring, and helpful the whole way through. She has a very warm personality and is so easy to talk to. I think very highly of her and I strongly recommend her help to anyone."

"Carmel Ward was a brilliant therapist to me. I came in with various things to work on, ranging from relationship traumas to sleeping problems, and after a few months of sessions I have come out with a far brighter outlook. The traumas have become more of a passing anxiety, and safe to say my sleeping has greatly improved!"

"Carmel is a wonderful listener as well as a great motivator, and after every session with her I felt just that little bit happier. I have only good things to say about Carmel, and truly recommend her as your therapist."

"Carmel creates a truly safe space in each of the sessions, and her kindness and compassion can be felt even through video calls. Carmel helped me better understand my relationships, and taught me how to set boundaries. She gave me tools to deal with my anxiety, and I am a much more confident person thanks to her. She supported me in finding my core values and taught me how to prioritise my own needs and wishes."

"After less successful therapy attempts, I am very happy I found Carmel. We do not share the same religious beliefs but that did not impact her ability to help me. Carmel is empathetic and very easy to talk to. She seems like she really listens and takes the time to understand."

"I feel stronger, can cope with this final year until the divorce. Its great to have someone who understood as I thought I was going mad. She helped with with issues with family as well. I can cope as well knowing it wasn’t my fault. Got lots of things off my chest. I can’t thank Carmel enough!"

“I now have a whole mindset change, celebrated the changes and as I was going through these there was no pressure.”

“Carmel has been an empowering and eye opening therapist that has listened attentively. She has helped me to set goals and been there to guide me on my journey of personal development, finding answers to questions I hadn’t asked myself before and being proud of myself.”

“Since I’ve started seeing Carmel my emotional and mental health has only improved."Love her! My life feels so much better when I have talked through my issues with Carmel!”

“Life is so much better after having sessions with Carmel, she helped me talk through all my issues and now I feel so much better! I am so grateful for her!”

“Easy to talk to, has helpful suggestions and I feel she understands my needs.”

I offer a chance to reflect on the difficulties or problems you are experiencing in a safe and confidential environment, with someone from outside your day-to-day life.

My Christian belief and understanding of the dignity of the human person is foundational to my counselling practice. I have successfully worked with many people with differing beliefs and cultures and without exception treat each and every person equally, respectfully and as unique individuals.

I am aware that a warm therapeutic working relationship between you and your counsellor is paramount and therefore strive to encourage and guide you throughout this process by really listening, offering empathy and compassion and motivating you to be the person you were called to be.

Speak in Confidence

I am able to provide a confidential space to talk and my hope is that you will feel heard, valued and understood. I know from experience that individual counselling can help with personal issues in life such as anxiety, depression, trauma, anger, addictions, relationship difficulties, bereavement and many others. For this reason I see counselling as a vocation and I am passionate about helping others and making a difference to the lives of the people who come to see me.

A problem shared

Life brings many challenges, and it is understandable that at times we might look for support in facing them. As a counsellor my role is to provide space and guidance to help you on your journey of self-discovery; to enable you to examine your life and make new, meaningful choices within it.

Make better, healthier new choices

Working together I can help you gain greater insight into the difficulties you are facing, help you understand why you act or react to them the way you do, and see how you can start to make better, heathier choices moving forward.

What issues can therapy help with?

People come to me for help a wide range of issues. Here are a few of the more common difficulties that can be supported through therapy:

Anxiety

Depression

Narcissistic Abuse Recovery

Bereavement

Domestic Abuse

Childhood Trauma

Problems with confidence or self-esteem

Anger management

Issues relating to sexuality

Difficulties at work or in retirement

Problems with family or school life

Panic attacks

Relationship problems

Problems with addiction

Trauma and post-traumatic stress

My location

I work from my private offices in Barrow upon Soar, Leicestershire. I see clients face to face and I work online via zoom with clients from anywhere in the world. I am also happy to make home visits within my local area.

Nottingham Road,

Barrow upon Soar,

Loughborough LE12 8HZ

Fees & availability

I charge £50 per session for adults and £45 for concessions.

Get in touch

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions about how counselling works, or to arrange an initial assessment appointment. This enables us to discuss the reasons you are thinking of coming to counselling, whether it could be helpful for you and whether I am the right counsellor to help.

You can also call me on 07546 081347 if you would prefer to leave a message or speak to me first. I am happy to discuss any queries or questions you may have prior to arranging an initial appointment.

All enquires are usually answered within 24 hours, and all contact is strictly confidential and uses secure phone and email services.

©2023 Carmel Ward

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