About Us

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About Us |

Our Approach

Silence Speaks was founded to support the wellbeing of those that have have tried alternative means of improving their mental health, but still struggle on a day to day basis.

For many people, a diagnosis or access to medication provides a means to alleviate their distress for a prolonged amount of time, allowing them to tend to many of life’s day to day challenges. However, the distress still exists, creating threat.

Through a framework known as PMT (Power, Meaning, Threat), as devised by Dr. Lucy Johnstone, we work with clients to understand the core of their distress and to integrate into their daily experience. In doing so, we support individuals to truly improve their mental health, increase their awareness, and to develop their own Mental Health Toolkit that is induvial to them.

Our Values

In order to maintain our approach, Silence Speaks follow a set of values that provide the foundation for all of our services.

Unconditional Positive Regard - We provide an space where your actions, thoughts, and behaviours can be discussed without fear of judgement, persecution, or rejection, in the pursuit of providing you with a supportive and inclusive environment.

Autonomy - We support you to make your own decisions and to govern yourself without the influence of control of others, including ourselves.

Empathic Understanding - We will endeavour to recognise, acknowledge and validate (when needed) your emotions, thoughts, and feelings, by understanding things from your perspective without having to walk 10,000 miles in your shoes.

Self-Reliance - From your first consultation to your final session, our motivation is to get you to a place where you can meet your own needs and provide solutions to your own problems, without the need to rely on others, including ourselves.

Confidentiality - We follow strict procedures to uphold confidentiality so that all sessions are conducted with full privacy.

Safety - It is not for us to tell you that the space we have created is safe, but we have taken many precautions to make our space as functional and safe as possible, and we allow for reasonable adjustments to this in any way that improves your time with us.

Meet our founder

Silence Speaks was founded by Steven Crichton in 2024 following years of studying toward becoming a registered member of the British Psychological Society, a certified practitioner of NLP, and graduating from USW with First Class Honours in Psychology with Counselling.

He began this journey following a family breakdown and relationship issues in 2017, that lead Steven to seeking out a counsellor to talk through his problems. It was through these sessions that he was able to deal with mental health challenges that began in childhood, and continued throughout adult life, affecting each life decision and challenge that he made along the way. Following these sessions, a goal was set by Steven to become a qualified and certified counsellor, with the hope that Steven could go on to help others as he was helped himself.

Qualifications & Credentials

  • BSc Psychology with Counselling (First Class Honours)

  • CPCAB Level 2 Certificate in Counselling Skills

  • Certified Practitioner of NLP (Dr. Bridget)

  • Research Assistant to Senior Lead Clinical Psychologist for PMHSS (08/23 - 08/24)

  • L3 Leadership & Management

  • Registered member of the British Psychological Society (GMBPsS) - Member no. 693644

  • Fully Insured (Treatments, Professional, Public, Products and Employers Liability) through Hiscox