New therapy and coaching centre for Harrogate

A new therapy and coaching centre to support people across a wide range of issues has launched in Harrogate.

The Harlow is home to a dedicated, experienced and ethical team of therapists and coaches who are equipped to support individuals, couples and families along with businesses through times of challenge and change.

Gordon Bethell, chairman of Leeds based marketing agency CreativeRace, and his wife Andrea are behind the venture, which was driven by Gordon’s own personal journey.

With a passion for people psychology gained from his marketing background, Gordon’s own personal journey started with emotional coaching, leading to personal psychotherapy and experience of CBT, EMDR, NLP, Somatic Therapy and Transactional Analysis.

“For many years I kept my own personal journey discreet as I didn’t want clients and colleagues to know I needed support”, commented Gordon. “My whole experience gave me profound insight about my past and how it informed my behaviours. I recognised that therapy can be daunting and confusing for many and there is a critical need for quality triage or assessment so that clients are matched with the best approach.

“For so many people right now, especially after the peak Covid experience, we see families dealing with extraordinary levels of change, particularly younger children and older teenagers who have felt an impact on their development or role.

“I’m delighted to be able to work with an extremely strong clinical team of practitioners who are supported just as well as our clients, in an environment where they can feel part of a broader team.

Gordon continued: “I’ve spoken to a lot of practitioners, many of whom work in private practice and are often home based. A common theme of our conversations was that they could feel quite isolated. Whilst all qualified practitioners have constant supervision, we recognised there was an opportunity to create a team environment in a purpose-built facility where practitioners could form a community and share best practice.

“There is a direct correlation between the success of therapy and coaching and the rapport between the client and the practitioner. This is another reason why The Harlow has been created, so that clients can access the very best practitioners in a welcoming environment.”

The Harlow will be running a series of workshops over the next few months that are for both practitioners and clients, with subjects ranging from parenting, transitioning from primary to secondary education and guiding young adults through their career choices through to professional workshops based around trauma, complex trauma, TA101 and broader psychotherapy-based training.