Martin Rigby

Verified Professional Verified Professional
Verified Professional

Every professional displayed on Counselling Directory has been independently verified by our team to ensure they have suitable credentials to practise.

Reg MBACP MSc Counselling & Psychotherapy
Available for new clients
Available for new clients

This professional is available for new clients.

Preston PR2 & Wigan WN1
Available for new clients
Available for new clients

This professional is available for new clients.

About me

Would you like some support for your anxiety or depression?

Are you struggling to cope with daily life and feel you have nowhere to turn?

Do you need to talk to someone in confidence about your personal issues?

Could it help to have a safe space where you can just be yourself?

Hello and welcome to my counselling profile. My name is Martin Rigby and I am a qualified and experienced person-centred counsellor and accredited mindfulness teacher. I am also a registered member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP), hold my own professional indemnity insurance and receive monthly counselling supervision.

I am friendly, warm and caring, do not give direct advice or judge you. I provide a safe, supportive and welcoming environment where you are invited to be yourself and explore your personal issues in your own time, in your own way and at your own pace.

Working in private practice in Preston, Lostock Hall and Wigan, I aim to reach out to different client groups including those people who often find it hard to access mainstream public services. I counsel people of all ages, cultures and social backgrounds including adults, young people, older people and couples.

Due to my own life experience I specialise in counselling disabled people or clients with a long term health condition, students, carers and parents with young families. I provide flexible counselling appointments face-to-face, by phone and online. Home visits are also available for those people who are housebound, experiencing ill-health and disability or who have mobility issues.

How can counselling help?

We can all go through times in our lives when we have ups and downs, may feel angry, upset, sad and lonely or could experience crisis, emotional distress, stress or depression.

Such thoughts, feelings and behaviour may seem to come from nowhere, might occur suddenly, be temporary or long lasting or can even be caused by a significant transition or life event such as a family bereavement, moving house, unemployment, divorce or separation and loss of independence perhaps due to accident, deteriorating health or becoming disabled.

Counselling can help with a wide range of issues including anxiety, bereavement, depression, low self-esteem, relationship difficulties and mental health issues. Seeing a counsellor can often be effective with concerns that are big or small, past, present or future. Counselling is a type of talking therapy which enables you to talk about thoughts, feelings and personal issues in a confidential, private and regular environment.

If you choose to come and see me for counselling I will work with you in a client-focused way, understanding your experiences from your point of view, positively valuing you as a whole person and responding to what you bring openly and genuinely. Person-centred counselling can help you to feel accepted, understand your own feelings better and reconnect with your own sense of self-worth.

Whilst my fundamental counselling approach is person-centred, I continue to develop my practice by learning about and training in other well-known approaches such as solution-focused brief therapy, CBT and mindfulness techniques. This means that I can work with you flexibly to address all of your needs as counselling progresses.

Training, qualifications & experience

  •            Masters Degree (MSC) in Counselling & Psychotherapy
    Graduate Diploma in Professional Counselling
    BACP Certificate of Proficiency
    ·          Breathworks Mindfulness Advanced Teacher Training (TTa)
  • ·          Breathworks Mindfulness Initial Teacher Training (TTi)
  • ·          Certificate in The Drama Triangle
  • ·          Certificate in Growing up with Shame: Children of Shame
  • ·          Certificate in Introduction to The Nervous System
  • ·          Certificate in Working with Bereaved Clients
  •            Certificate in OCD: A Cognitive Behavioural Therapy Approach
  •            Certificate in Suicide and Suicidal Ideation
  •            Certificate in Solution-Focused Group Work
  •           Certificate in Working with Dreams
  • Certificate in Facilitating A Confidence Building Programme
  • Certificate in Working with Trauma

Experience

I have been a qualified counsellor since 2005. I completed my professional counselling training at University of Central Lancashire in Preston. Since then I have counselled at a number of local charities, schools, young people’s services and community organisations.

My most recent counselling placement was at a local children’s centre where I provided person-centred counselling to adults of all ages, cultures and backgrounds on a wide range of issues. I have also worked for Samaritans, volunteered for a local children’s summer play scheme and was employed for over ten years on a helpline providing information, advice and emotional support to young people aged 11-25.

Member organisations

BACP
British Association for Counselling & Psychotherapy (BACP)

BACP is one of the UK’s leading professional bodies for counselling and psychotherapy with around 60,000 members. The Association has several different categories of membership, including Student Member, Individual Member, Registered Member MBACP, Registered Accredited Member MBACP (Accred) and Senior Registered Accredited Member MBACP (Snr Acccred).

Registered and accredited members are listed on the BACP Register, which shows that they have demonstrated BACP’s recommended standards for training, proficiency and ethical practice. The BACP Register was the first register of psychological therapists to be accredited by the Professional Standards Authority (PSA).

Accredited and senior accredited membership are voluntary categories for members who choose to undertake a rigorous application and assessment process to demonstrate additional standards around practice, training and supervision.

Individual members will have completed an appropriate counselling or psychotherapy course and started to practise, but they won’t appear on the BACP Register until they've demonstrated that they meet the standards for registration. Student members are still in the process of completing their training.

All members are bound by the BACP Ethical Framework and a Professional Conduct Procedure.

Accredited register membership

British Association for Counselling & Psychotherapy
Accredited Register Scheme

The Accredited Register Scheme was set up in 2013 by the Department of Health (DoH) as a way to recognise organisations that hold voluntary registers which meet certain standards. These standards are set by the Professional Standards Authority (PSA).

This therapist has indicated that they belong to an Accredited Register.

British Association for Counselling & Psychotherapy

Other areas of counselling I deal with

  • Carer support
  • Disabilities
  • Learning difficulties
  • Low self-esteem
  • Loneliness

Fees

£35.00 per session
Free initial telephone or online session

Concessions offered for

  • Low income
  • Keyworkers
  • Students
  • Trainee counsellors
  • Unemployed
  • Refugees

Additional information

Fees

Individual Counselling Session 50 min £35

Couples Counselling Session 50 min £40

Home visits 50 min £45 (additional mileage fee may apply)

Skype/Instant Messaging Counselling 50 min £35

Facetime Counselling 50 min £35

WhatsApp Counselling 50 min £35

I aim to make my counselling services accessible, affordable and available to all. In order to do this I offer a range of concessions on my fees for students, disabled people, pensioners and clients who are unwaged.

Concessions are also available if you wish to block book 4, 6 or 10 sessions in advance. Please contact me for more information about the ongoing concessions I provide or we can discuss this at your initial counselling appointment.

Payments methods:

  • Cash
  • Cheque
  • Bank Transfer
  • Paypal

Cancellation Policy
The initial counselling appointment is free of charge. However if you miss or are unable to attend your initial appointment without prior notice, or if we agree there are no exceptional circumstances for you not being at the session, I will charge a small fee of £15 to cover my professional time, travel costs or room booking fees.

Once you have started therapy, if you think you may be unable to
attend your counselling appointment I ask that you let me know as soon
as possible and at least 48 hours prior to your agreed appointment
time. If you do not attend and I do not hear from you at least 48
hours before your appointment please be aware that I will still
require the full cost of the missed session and will invoice you for
this.



When I work

Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun
Morning
Afternoon
Evening
Night

My working hours are Monday to Friday 9am-9pm. 

Further information

With the gradual lifting of Covid restrictions in all parts of the UK I am happy to announce that from 1st March 2022 I will be resuming face-to-face counselling appointments, working from offices in Preston and Wigan as well as from my private counselling room at home in Lostock Hall. At Martin Rigby Counselling the safety of clients and anyone who uses my services is of the upmost importance to me.

Therefore I will continue to follow the recommended guidance around safe working and will continue to employ a range of measures to minimize risk, including carrying out risk assessments for each new client referral, regularly cleaning my counselling room before and after sessions and encouraging mask wearing and hand washing. I will continue to offer the option of online or telephone sessions and all my initial appointments will still be conducted online or over the phone.

Whether or not you have had counselling before I fully understand that taking this first step to get the help and support you need may feel challenging, daunting, scary and perhaps at times overwhelming. That’s why I will do everything I can to help you to feel welcome and comfortable.

I offer a free 30 minutes initial appointment with no obligation to continue counselling. This initial appointment can be held by telephone, Facetime or Skype and gives you the opportunity to find out what counselling is, how it can help and whether you feel we can work together.

Besides the venues listed below, following your initial assessment, I am also able to offer therapy from the comfortable surroundings of my home in Lostock Hall, Preston (PR5).  If you are continuing counselling I will give you my address privately before your first full counselling appointment.

Alternatively, depending on your own location, needs and availability, we can arrange to work from the following venues:

Disability Equality, 103 Church street, Preston PR1 3BS

Sunshine House Community Centre, Wellington St, Scholes, Wigan, WN1 3SA   


Remedy Centre For Health, 166 Tulketh Road, Ashton-on-Ribble, Preston, Lancashire, PR2 1ER

The Bridgeman Centre, 18 Bridgeman Terrace, Wigan, Greater Manchester, WN1 1TD

Type of session

In person
Online
Phone

Types of client

Young people
Adults
Older Adults
Couples
Groups
Organisations

Key details

Wheelchair user access
Wheelchair user access

Wheelchair-accessible premises should have step-free access for wheelchair users and individuals who are unable to climb stairs. If a Counsellor's premises aren't step-free, they may offer alternative services such as telephone/web-based appointments, home visits, or meeting clients in different location, so you can choose the option that suits you best.

You can contact the Counsellor to discuss the options available.

Under the Equality Act 2010 service providers have a duty to make reasonable adjustments to ensure that individuals with disabilities can access their service. You can read more about reasonable adjustments to help you to access services on the CAB website.

I can offer wheelchair accessible therapy rooms.

Social

Martin Rigby
Martin Rigby