About Us

At Waterlane Cottage we are dedicated to providing high quality and effective psychotherapeutic services within the Bishops Stortford area. We are located directly within the town centre within easy access of car parks.

Christine Usher

 WATERLANE COTTAGE FOUNDER

A Relate trained couple therapist with over 35 years experience. BSc, Dip, Accred, MBACP, UKRCP reg. She has a Post Graduate Diploma in Integrative Counselling and is an accredited psychotherapist with the BACP. She is also a CBT trained practitioner.

What is Counselling & Psychotherapy?

Counselling and psychotherapy are ways of understanding the human mind and its reactions to life events. Different counsellors offer different types of therapy such as psychoanalytical therapy, Cognitive behavioural therapy, person-centred therapy and integrative therapy, to name only a few.

Therapy Approaches

  • ...believe childhood events and unconscious thoughts, feelings and motivations play a role in mental illness and maladaptive behaviors.

  • In this 'the age of anxiety' many people seek professional help for a broad spectrum of occupational, family or emotional problems of which depression and anxiety being the most common. CBT is an educational approach based on scientific principles which help clients to understand their problems, and how these affect their thoughts, feelings and behaviours. The focus of the therapy is to enable clients to generate solutions to problems based on techniques learned in therapy, which are more effective than their present coping strategies. CBT has been shown to be at least as effective as anti-depressant medication, but superior to medication in the prevention of relapse, and recurrence of illness. Sessions last fifty minutes for one to one counselling and ninety minutes for couples. Sessions are either weekly or bi-weekly and take place over an average of 12 - 20 sessions, depending on the nature and severity of the problem

  • ...believe that every individual has the internal resources they need for psychological growth.
    The therapist aims to provide a relationship offering unconditional positive regard,
    empathic understanding and congruence which enables this growth to occur..


  • …takes into account many views of human functioning. It is an approach based on developmental research and theories describing the self-protective defenses used when we experience trauma or distress in our development. They aim to facilitate wholeness so that the quality of the person’s being and functioning is maximised with due regard for each individuals own personal limits and external constraints. The integrative counsellor believes that different theories and approaches are valuable but on their own provide only a partial explanation of behaviour, therefore, bringing various theories together, the cognitive, neurological and behavioral, provides an approach that helps to facilitate growth in all these aspects of self.

Counselling & Psychotherapy can help with:

  • Addictions

  • Anxiety, fear, panic and phobias

  • Bereavement and loss either present or past

  • Child behaviour and emotional difficulties

  • Depression, low mood or intense sadness

  • Eating disorders

  • Health problems

  • Relationship difficulties be it couple, family or professional

  • Life changes

  • Or anything else which may be causing a person to feel
    psychological discomfort, however large or small.

What can I expect?

You will be given the opportunity to explore and begin to understand what may be difficult, confusing and often conflicting feelings in a safe environment. It may be necessary to look beyond presenting problems to underlying causes allowing the persistence of long-standing issues, as well as immediate difficulties, to be understood. We offer a service that is safe, confidential, professional and supportive.

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