Brightspot Counselling
Online Counselling in Conwy, Colwyn Bay, Bangor & Beyond
Welcome to Brightspot Counselling
Supporting you to find your brightspot in a world that is feeling bleak and grey
Hello and welcome to my practice!
An integrative psychotherapist dedicated to helping individuals navigate their unique journeys toward healing and self-discovery.
Thank you for stopping by at Brightspot Counselling
Brightspot Counselling is an online counselling service, based in North Wales in the area around Conwy, Colwyn Bay and Bangor, run by Lena Zagel BACP registered counsellor, who can offer long or short-term therapy both in English and German. She has gained numerous experience in working in a variety of mental health settings and has worked with a wide range of people from all life experiences. Each person brings their own unique concerns and difficulties that might impact them in the present or from the past, showing up differently for everyone.
She can offer open ended counselling or short-term counselling also with a specific focus; this will be regularly reviewed as you oversee the length and frequency. In an initial session, Lena will provide a comfortable space to share your feelings and thoughts on what has been going on for you, as well as ask specific questions in gaining a clearer understanding to provide the best possible support going forwards.
After the first session, you decide whether this is the right support for you and whether you want to start the therapeutic process together. Similarly, Lena works within her competency and abides by the ethical framework through the BACP, so she will let you know if any presenting issues are not within her competency and would provide further recommendations for you in terms of support that might be better suited to your needs.
People bring a wide range of topics specific ranging from anxiety, depression, emotional regulation difficulties, stress, health, work, fatigue, self-esteem, traumatic experiences to relationships difficulties.
This is important so you can be more specific and get the most appropriate support, however sometimes we don’t know what the most suitable support is until we start reaching out for help and putting ourselves out there.
Thank you for considering me as your companion on this journey. I’m genuinely looking forward to supporting you in finding your path towards your own bright spot.
Can you remember a time when you felt sure of where you wanted to go and confident of how to get there, despite it being difficult?
Has the colour faded out of your life and things you used to enjoy, started feeling duller and greyer compared to before?
Have you been feeling overwhelmed lately and things are not changing the way you would like?
Are you feeling stuck in your thoughts and behaviours but are unsure on how to start feeling unstuck?
Are you in need for a space where you feel supported, understood, and encouraged in your growth?
Even just looking at support and what support is available, is an immense step towards recognizing your need for selfcare and that there is no shame in reaching out for help, we all need support at times. And understandably that can be quite intimidating and a bit scary at first, yet you are here and that is what matters most in looking after yourself.
Approaches to Integrative Therapy
Integrative therapy is a flexible and holistic approach that draws from various therapeutic models to meet your unique needs. In my practice, I blend three main approaches: person-centred, psychodynamic, and cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT).
The person-centred approach focuses on creating a compassionate, non-judgmental space where you can feel truly heard and valued. Through the psychodynamic perspective, we can explore the deeper, often unconscious influences of your past experiences on your current thoughts and behaviours, helping you gain valuable insights into long-standing patterns. Cognitive-behavioural therapy, on the other hand, aims to identify and change unhelpful thought patterns and behaviours, empowering you to develop more adaptive ways of thinking.
My approach also integrates creative elements and is informed by Polyvagal Theory, which allows us to explore how our nervous system responses affect our emotional experiences.
Benefits of Talking Therapy
Talking to a counsellor can provide a safe, non-judgmental space through a non biased individual to help explore your thoughts and emotions, helping you gain clarity, process challenges/situations, and develop tools for personal growth/emotional regulation etc. This can be a helpful process to empower you to navigate life’s complexities with greater confidence in the future.
Online counselling makes this support even more accessible, allowing you to connect from the comfort of your home, with greater flexibility to fit sessions into your schedule. It’s a convenient and effective way to prioritize your mental well-being.
Collaborative Therapeutic Journey
In our collaborative work together, I recognize that you are the expert of your own experiences. Therefore I am there to support you throughout the process whilst being mindful that this is at your own pace.
While I provide support and guidance, I also gently challenge you to question your patterns and beliefs, encouraging deeper self-reflection and growth that will hopefully lead to help you in deeper understanding of yourself. With more understanding we can then together look at strategies and/or ways to aid to support your process further. Therefore allowing to craft a highly personalized therapeutic journey just for you.
Supporting Your Growth
Clients often find that this approach not only helps them gain a deeper understanding of themselves but also opens up new perspectives and equips them with tools to navigate life’s challenges more effectively.
In our sessions, I incorporate various techniques such as grounding, visualizations, mindfulness, and breathing exercises to help regulate emotions and create a sense of stability. Also I use psychoeducation to make psychological concepts more understandable to support you in making sense of your experiencing. Additionally, dependent on your difficulties, I use creative tools, including art supplies, to explore underlying issues more deeply and facilitate self-expression in ways that go beyond words to support you in creating meaning of your experiences.
Blending these approaches together, aims to create a safe and supportive environment that nurtures your journey toward self-awareness, healing, and personal growth.
What types of issues can counselling help with?
I can support you with a variety of issues and people come to therapy to look at different stages in life whether that is about the present, past or future.
Anxiety
Depression
Health-related issues
Relationships
If you don’t see the type of issue, you need support with, does not mean I cannot help you. Just get in touch and find out more about what I can support you with.
Fees & Availability
Therapy is an investment in yourself—an opportunity to gain deeper insight into your patterns and take active steps towards meaningful change.
There are concession rates available, please get in touch for further information.
If you are ready to find out more reach out to me
Feel free to contact me if you have any questions or want to talk more about my approach to therapy, online counselling sessions and how that works, the pricing, etc. This enables us to discuss the reasons you are thinking of coming to counselling, how it could be helpful for you and whether I am the right therapist to help.
If you prefer you can call or WhatsApp/text me on 07958495401 and leave a message, letting me know how to best contact you.
I am happy to discuss any queries or questions you may have.
I aim to respond to all enquiries as soon as possible.
Frequently asked questions
As there are many different types of therapy, it is worth having a think about what type of therapy you would like to try. When considering looking for a therapist feel free to ask lots of questions and enquire by contacting them, there are no stupid questions. Most importantly though, regardless of what type of therapy you choose to try, is the relationship between you and the therapist. They would enable you to feel heard and seen, providing you space where you feel comfortable and safe sharing your thoughts and feelings.
The first session is an assessment session which is 90 minutes long, to get a more in depth understanding of your circumstances and what we might focus on in our work. Also, this is an opportunity for you to see whether I am the right fit for you, and you feel comfortable working with me as well whether I am the right therapist to help you. The assessment session is charged at full rate as I would expect you to get more understanding for yourself and a clearer pathway to begin your therapeutic journey.
However choosing a therapist can be quite a daunting experience, so obviously we can talk before an assessment session in more detail for you to get a feel for my way of working without a charge. So if you are unsure about the process or would like to get a better sense of me as a therapist, just get in touch with me if you are interested and let me know how to best contact you via email, WhatsApp/text or phone.
I am bound my ethical body (BACP) which ensures that I will be working ethically and within my competency. Therefore, if there is a presenting issue which is not within my competency, I would offer you recommendations and send further resources that might be beneficial. Or if you decide, you do not want to work with me, that is fine, you need to feel comfortable and safe as that is the most important, and I could send you further resources or recommendations.
You will need access to a laptop/phone/tablet with a camera. An email with the Teams or Zoom invitation will be sent which you can open and click on, this will take you to the session and into a waiting room, which I then let you into the meeting. If you need more help with technical questions on how to open or access the invitation, please do not hesitate to let me know and I will support you as best as possible and send further information.
You pay by via bank transfer and an email with further details will be sent to you.
Life happens and circumstances get in the way sometimes. If you want to cancel or change your appointment slot, then that is not a problem just please let me know in time so I can adapt my schedule accordingly and will offer you another available time and day. I have a 24-hour cancellation policy, so any cancellations/changes to your slot less than 24 hours I will have to charge you for that session as I will not have had time to make other arrangements to fill your slot.
If finances are difficult, I also offer a time limited piece of work such as 6 sessions on a specific topic or issue, which could be used as a starting point in your wellbeing and mental health journey. There are a limited number of concession slots for low income, benefits, students and key workers available, therefore I cannot guarantee a slot at the point of contact. Just get in touch and we can discuss it.
We will work together in an open-ended way, where we regularly review our work. When we come to a point in our work where it might feel as though ending would be beneficial or you decide you would like to end the support, we would then talk about an ending to our sessions and how to work towards that. You are in full control of when you want to end working together and end therapy at any time. However I usually want to try to have at least one ending session to close off the work together if possible and say goodbye to you for our time working together.
The therapy I offer does not include crisis support. This means I cannot provide more than one session per week or offer support outside of regular hours.
If you are in immediate need or feel at risk of harm, please:
- Call 999 (emergency services)
- Contact your GP for an appointment.
If it is not an emergency but you need mental health advice, call:
- NHS 111, option 2 (free 24/7))
- NHS 111 - https://signvideo.co.uk/nhs111/ click on website to download the app if you are deaf or have hearing impairments (free 24/7)
- Text HELP to 81066 (also available for hearing impairments, neurodivergence support in Wales)
Additional Crisis and Support Services (24/7 where available):
- Samaritans: 116 123 ⦁ Contact Us | Samaritans (free 24/7)
- C.A.L.L. (Wales mental health helpline + mental health topics): 0800 132 737 ⦁ C.A.L.L. Mental Health Helpline (free 24/7)
- HOPELine UK (Suicide prevention for under 35s): 0800 068 4141 ⦁ Papyrus UK, offer webchat (free 24/7; available for BSL)
- SHOUT: text SHOUT to 85258 ⦁ Get help - free, 24/7, confidential mental health text support service | Shout 85258 (free 24/7)
- Cruse Bereavement Support: 0808 808 1677 ⦁ Get support - Cruse Bereavement Support (free, Mo – Fr 9:30am – 3pm)
- No Panic (Panic attacks & anxiety): 300 772 9844 ⦁ No Panic Helplines - ⦁ NoPanic (10am - 10pm)
- Mermaids (Support for trans, nonbinary & gender diverse people): 0808 801 0400 ⦁ Mermaids offer webchat (Mon – Fr 1pm – 8.30pm)
- LGBT Foundation: 0345 3 30 30 30 ⦁ Contact us - LGBT Foundation (Mo – Fr 9am – 9pm; Sat– Sun 10am – 6pm)
- Victim Support: 0808 168 9111 ⦁ Victim Support (free 24/7)
- Talk to FRANK (Drug & alcohol support): 0300 123 660 or text 82111 ⦁ Talk to FRANK (24/7)
Pro Tip: Save these numbers in your phone contacts or keep them somewhere visible so they are easy to access when needed. There are services available for emotional support when things feel really overwhelming in the moment and you feel an immediate need to talk to someone even at night. They are professionally trained individuals who can support you emotionally through a challenging time, you can always reach out and you do not have to go through this alone.
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