About – David Peak

About Me

I am a BACP accredited counsellor and psychotherapist and have over 20 years experience of working with individuals and couples. I work from rooms both in Central Manchester and in Rochdale. I have helped individuals obtain relief from a wide range of issues including: anxiety, depression, bereavement, stress, trauma and abuse. For couples I provide a safe space in which both partners are heard and respected, which enables them to work through their differences and reach a resolution.

I am a humane and compassionate man who recognises that in the whole of human history there has never been anyone exactly like you, there is no one exactly like you now, and there will never be anyone exactly like You again at any time in the future. You are unique: they broke the mould after making you. I have spent much of the last 20 years working to help many of my fellow men and women who were dejected, heartbroken, or ill at ease, find peace of mind and a new zest for living. I have done my work in the voluntary sector, the NHS, and in private practice and I have taught counselling in further education colleges up to Foundation Degree

I am used to working in a time-limited way with clients and have helped many people resolve, in four or six sessions, issues that have tormented them and blighted their lives for years.

The corner stone of my work is genuine respect and empathy for my clients. This enables us rapidly to form a close therapeutic alliance and find a solution to their difficulties in the shortest possible time.

Use your today to make your ideal tomorrow

What I do

I work both in fixed term short episodes of counselling and longer term psychotherapy. I work with people who
have been bereaved, depressed, stressed, or anxious, with people who have suffered life-changing trauma,
and sometimes with people who have experienced medically unexplained physical symptoms, such as IBS,
fibromyalgia, or chronic pain.

How I do it

I have a box of tools. It contains all the different models of therapy I have learned over the
years since I began my counselling studies. But as important as the tools I use are, it is the way
I use them that makes the difference. I use them with compassion and humanity, with a non-judgemental
attitude to my clients (“there but for the grace of God…”), and with empathy. Finally, the way I use them is
moderated by all the life experiences I have had on my way to becoming who I am now.

Where I do it

On Tuesday and Wednesday each week I have a clinic in Central Manchester (Piccadilly Gardens) where I
see clients between 9am and 7pm. And on Thursday and Friday I have a “virtual” clinic using the
videoconferencing app Zoom, where again I offer appointments between 9am and 7pm.

How to get help

If you are struggling to understand what life is about at the moment; if you are ready to make living simpler,
less stressed and easier to cope with, phone or email me now, to book no obligation, free 15 minute
consultation to explore how I might help you reclaim your peace of mind and joy for living.

Areas with easy access to treatment venues

My practice in Central Manchester is within easy reach of all the towns in Greater Manchester including: in the
South, Stockport, Bramhall, Bredbury, Cheadle, Cheadle Hulme, Handforth, Hazel Grove, Hyde and
Wythenshaw; in the North, Bury, Radcliffe, Whitefield, Prestwich, Heywood and Middleton; in the West,
Altrincham, Hale, Timperley, Sale, Urmston, Carrington, Cadishead, Partington, Irlam, Eccles, Worsley,
Swinton, Bolton, Westhoughton, Atherton, Tyldsley; and in the East, Oldham, Failsworth, Ashton, Mossley,
Stalybridge, Royton and Shaw.
Whilst my Rochdale practice covers Rochdale borough and the Rossendale Valley including Rawtenstall,
Waterfoot, Bacup and Whitworth; Littleborought, Todmorden and and the Calder Valley are also in easy
travelling distance.

My Qualifications

Professional Qualifications relevant to Counselling:

• Diploma in Counselling • BACP accredited Counsellor/Psychotherapist • EMDR Europe accredited training In addition I have a B.Sc. (Ext. Lond.), a Professional Diploma in Education, and was a member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants in private practise for 20 years.

It is important to keep in mind that qualifications are merely an indication of a level of academic achievement and a foundation on which the therapist builds their practice. Psychotherapy, whatever the model depends on the relationship you, the client, are able to build with your therapist, because if you feel you are not valued by her or him, a trusting relationship will never develop and it is from that trust that recovery emerges. Healing a client’s wounded mind can only be done by the mind itself. The therapist may be able to facilitate the healing, but they have no magic wands. Healing comes about by the client changing their view of themselves and their view of the world, and the therapist can only create a safe place in which the client can look at the way they see the world and themselves, work out what part of the model is inaccurate and make the necessary adjustments to bring it back to being a fair representation of the way they see reality.

Areas of counselling I deal with

Therapies offered

Areas of Specialism

I work with adults (over the age of 18 years) who are not at peace with themselves.
I work both short term and long term with my clients, depending on their needs; very occasionally, clients have felt their difficulties have been resolved in one appointment, but most of my clients have been able to resolve their difficulties in four, six, or eight sessions. Occasionally twelve appointments or more may be needed in more complex cases of trauma.