Carole Carter

Hi there, I'm Carole and I use they/them pronouns. I am a trauma informed coaching psychologist and I'd like to welcome you to my Life Coach Directory profile.

I work with clients from all walks of life who are struggling with strong emotions and difficult situations. These include:

• Anxiety
• Anger
• Depression
• Fear
• Stress
• Overwhelm
• Emotional numbness
• Jealousy
• Suicidal thoughts and feelings
• Difficulty dealing with people’s reactions to an aspect of their identity
• Conflict with others
• Issues with someone’s reaction to how they structure their relationships
• Not knowing who they are as a person
• Having a coping mechanism, like self harm, that they want to stop but need help in doing so
• And having difficulty in maintaining positive, healthy habits.

I believe that a lot of the patterns we find ourselves in can be explained and understood by what happened in the past as well as through the natural way our nervous systems function. I also believe that the real power of change lies in the present. 

Using the forward-focus of coaching combined with evidence-based psychological models, theories and tools, my clients make genuine, positive and lasting changes. I am developing my competence in working anti-oppressively so that I am best able to hold space for the full diversity of human experience. My approach is personalised and adapted to the people I’m working with and I encourage them to bring their whole person to our sessions. I want to celebrate your wins with you as well as supporting you through the lows.

Coaching focuses in on a few things: where you are now, where you want to be and how you can get there. By keeping this at the forefront, coaching can get you closer to where you want to be (aka closer to achieving your goals). Because it’s got a wider focus than counselling, which is aimed at developing your self awareness, coaching is able to examine and explore the impact of wider social issues on you. Sometimes the source of the difficult feelings you’re experiencing are natural and healthy reactions to existing in a world that denies, denigrates, discriminates against and victimises you as a member of a non-dominant group. If this is the case for you, learning better ways to manage your feelings is valid but it’s not enough as you’re likely to encounter these things over and over again. Coaching allows you to explore how you want to handle, engage with or disengage from things like this.

I love focusing on working with people from the LGBTQIA+, neurodivergent, polyamorous, ethically non-monogamous (ENM) / consensually non-monogamous (CNM) and BDSM / kink communities. These communities can still be a mystery to many, ignored by plenty and expected to just fit into and blend into the same structures and services provided for the straight, cisgender, allistic, monogamous and vanilla majority. A lot of the time people from these communities don’t need “special” or “different” support but they do need the services they are accessing to be inclusive and aware of relevant issues. That's where people like me come in. Being a part of these communities myself helps me to create a safe, supportive and accepting service for you regardless of how you identify or structure your life.

I only work with individuals. Working skillfully and competently with more than one person at a time requires training that I don’t have.

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I am a graduate member of the British Psychological Society and I adhere to their Code of Ethics & Conduct. I have regular supervision sessions, take a reflective approach to my work and pursue continuing professional development opportunities.

I also host a podcast called The Proud Psychologist which talks about all things mental health. You can find it on the major platforms like Spotify,  Amazon, Apple and Google as well as here: https://www.caroledianecoaching.co.uk/podcast 

A proud member of the LGBTQ community, my services are inclusive of all gender identities and sexual orientations. I am also poly, ethical non-monogamy (ENM) and kink friendly.

• LGBTQ issues 
  • Coming out
  • Gender identity
  • Orientation (I like the split attraction model which is inclusive of the ace and aro spectrums)
  • Homophobia, lesbophobia, biphobia, transphobia, acephobia and negative reactions to non-binary people
• Trauma 
• Depression
• Anxiety
• Phobias
• ADHD
• Chronic illness (particularly fibromyalgia)
• Self harm
• Suicidal thoughts
• Relationship issues in monogamous, ethically non-monogamous  and polyamorous structures
• Self harm
• Conflict at work or in social situations
• Family estrangement
• Meditation & mindfulness
• Personal development
• Kink / BDSM

Please either message/email me for a free consultation (lasts 30 minutes) or use the 'book a discovery call' function. Consultations are conducted over Google Meet (video call) and a link will be sent to your email address after the date and time of the consultation is confirmed. If you require alternative options, please message or email me about this.

I offer online or in-person sessions and they will typically be either weekly or fortnightly.

I only work with individuals.

I see clients in-person in Maidenhead.

Testimonials

"We are so very grateful to have found Carole, she is our knight in shining armour. Carole has been able to help my daughter to stop self-harming – this was a huge obstacle for us and a BIG WIN.

Carole has such a profound, positive and a can do attitude towards every challenge that my child has to face and she also provides practical advice and life skills for everyday difficulties. My daughter was starting to believe that she is a weirdo, unloved and unwanted but bit by bit she is beginning to learn that her brain works differently and that her way of thinking/talking doesn’t make her a bad person."

"Throughout all of [our] sessions Carole has explained the processes we are using in a scientific and logical way and made me feel at ease. She has been professional, approachable and sympathetic in everything we have done so far and I look forward to continuing to work with her."

"Having Carole as an ADHD accountability coach has had huge benefits for me - I'm on track, finding more time to do both the important and the fun things, and it's lovely to know that she understands my experiences and the different parts of my LGBTQ identity! I'm self-employed, neurodivergent and juggling my mental health, so sharing the load with another person gives me the reassurance that nothing will fall through the gaps while I'm not looking."

"Carole instantly made me feel very at ease, calm & relaxed. Carole has such a gentle nature, and is so compassionate!"