About me
Maybe you feel like everyone else seems to be coping better than you. Maybe you feel overwhelmed by constant chatter in your head, or you quietly feel like you're not good enough at anything, even if nobody would guess it. Maybe the ways you've found to get through it, like eating too much or too little food, alcohol, drugs or self-harm, are starting to worry you. You might be wondering whether you're neurodivergent, or you might already have a diagnosis and feel like life is harder for you than it looks for everyone else. Maybe the pressure of exams, work or having a baby has tipped you from just about coping into overwhelm.
For some mums, having a baby is when ADHD or autism becomes impossible to ignore.
Hi, I'm Alex — an HCPC-registered Dramatherapist based in Brighton & Hove. I'm warm, pretty informal, and genuinely curious about people. I've got clear boundaries, but I hold them in a relaxed, human way rather than a clinical one. I like a laugh in a session as much as I like the deep stuff. I'm interested in actually getting to know you, understanding the patterns you keep bumping into, and helping you find a way of relating to yourself that isn't so exhausting.
I mostly work with young women (age 14+) and mums.
I have a lot of experience working with young women who have struggled with drugs and alcohol, including three years at The Oasis Project. I also work with young people who experiance anxiety, low mood, burnout, identity questions, self-esteem, trauma, life transitions and relationships, and I have experience with neurodivergent young people and adults, LGBTQ+ young people, young carers and survivors of abuse. I'm LGBTQ+ affirming.
My approach is warm, relational and chatty, informed by Internal Family Systems (IFS). I don't work as a blank slate — I'm a real, present person in the room with you, not someone sitting back in silence. A lot of what I care about is helping your nervous system settle, not just talking around a problem. I'm also a Dramatherapist, which just means I sometimes use creative approaches alongside talking — storytelling, metaphor, objects, imagination — where they're genuinely useful, never because you're expected to perform or act. A lot of my work is simply two people talking.
I also offer a specific short process called The Birth — three sessions for anyone who wants to tell and explore their birth story, whatever kind of birth it was. You don't need to have had a traumatic birth to want to make sense of it.
I work with young people aged 14 and up, as well as adults, and offer sessions online and in person in Brighton & Hove. If any of this sounds like you, I'd love to hear from you.
Training, qualifications & experience
I've spent over ten years working with children, young people, adults and families, across a real mix of settings — young carers, refugees, survivors of stalking and sexual abuse, neurodivergent young people, trans and non-binary young people, and people whose lives (their own, or their family's) have been shaped by drug and alcohol use.
For three years I worked as a Young Person's Therapist at The Oasis Project, supporting 16–25 year olds experiencing problematic alcohol and substance use, alongside children and young people aged 5–18 whose families were affected by drug and alcohol use. Many of the people I worked with were neurodivergent, and a lot had experienced complex trauma in childhood.
Alongside my clinical work, I co-ran low-cost creative therapeutic groups for parents and babies for over four years. That work gave me a close, on-the-ground understanding of what becoming a parent actually feels like, even before I was a parent myself — not just in theory.
I've worked extensively with autistic and ADHD children, young people and their families and have lived experience of neurodivergence myself. What matters most to me is understanding each person as themselves, rather than starting from a diagnosis or a label. I bring curiosity, warmth and creativity to the work, and I'm interested in helping people make sense of what they've been through and find a way forward that actually fits them.
Member organisations
school Registered / Accredited
Being registered/accredited with a professional body means an individual must have achieved a substantial level of training and experience approved by their member organisation.
The HCPC are an independent, UK-wide health regulator. They set standards of professional training, performance and conduct for 16 professions.
They keep a register of health professionals who meet their standards, and they take action if registered health professionals fall below those standards. They were created by a piece of legislation called the Health Professions Order 2001.
Registration means that a health professional meets national standards for their professional training, performance and conduct.
Areas of counselling I deal with
Therapies offered
Fees
£50.00 - £70.00
Concessions offered for
Additional information
Fees
I know contacting a therapist can feel like a big step. There's no pressure to share more than you're ready to, whenever you're ready to.
I have a small number of sliding-scale sessions available for self-funded 18–26 year olds, and for mothers on maternity leave. Get in touch to ask about current availability.
Before we start working together, I offer an initial 20-minute call on Zoom, just to get a sense of how I might be able to help. If you're a teenager, you're welcome to bring a parent along to that first call — totally your call, whatever feels right for you.
When I work
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Further information
What is Dramatherapy?
In simple terms, Dramatherapy is a creative form of psychotherapy — it can involve drama, art, music, images, storytelling, or pretty much anything creative, used to help you find a way to express what's going on for you, build confidence, and get to know yourself better. To be clear: nobody's ever expected to perform or act anything out. It's just another way in, alongside talking.
My approach to Dramatherapy
I'm warm, curious, and I'll be honest with you rather than just nodding along. I'm not a sit-back-and-say-nothing kind of therapist. A lot of what I care about is helping your nervous system actually settle, not just talking around a problem. I sometimes bring in play, art, character work or storytelling to help things find a shape, but I know creativity isn't everyone's thing, and there's genuinely no pressure to engage with it if it's not yours — plenty of people I work with just talk. We work out together what actually resonates with you, and I'll offer creative tools where I think they might open something up, never because the process calls for it.
Why choose Dramatherapy?
Sometimes feelings are hard to put into words — creative expression gives you another way to get at what's really going on.
Having a structure to work within can make it feel safer to explore difficult things.
Working with metaphor often surfaces things about yourself you didn't quite have words for yet.
