About me
I support individuals and couples using psychodynamic and emotionally focused approaches. Psychodynamically, I pay attention to unconscious relational processes between us and make links between your current experience and what happened for you in the early years of your life. As an emotionally focused couples therapist, I help couples de-escalate conflict, become aware of and transform unhelpful cycles, listen to and understand each other's attachment needs and longings, and integrate new ways of relating.
Although I offer support for many different challenges, I specialize in working with people who are processing trauma, sex/sexuality-related concerns, life transitions, chronic pain, and relationship difficulties. Overall, I support clients with a range of issues including life transitions, addiction, disordered eating and body dysmorphia, questions of identity, bereavement and loss, and depression/anxiety.
In my practice, I aim to foster a space where you feel comfortable connecting with parts of yourself that don't otherwise have space to be heard and seen, such as the ones that hold shame or other taboo feelings. This can take time and I trust your process - I believe staying with you lies at the heart of therapy. With individuals, I predominantly take a non-directive and collaborative approach that is most beneficial for those who wish to further their self-awareness and actively engage in the therapeutic process. With couples, I am a bit more directive according to the EFT approach, in which the therapist acts as a process consultant.
We can use the space in different ways, depending on how you feel- you can explore and narrate the past, making links and bringing awareness to old and new stories; we can delve into a present issue such as challenges in a relationship or depression and anxiety in day-to-day life; we can also make some art if words aren't coming easily. I often ask about what is happening in your body, as I see bodies as allies in healing even if we are often shut off or disconnected from their messages due to traumatic histories. Regardless of what our work looks like, it is my hope that you feel heard, understood and less alone, that you experience movement and relief, and that together we can help you reach a place where you feel safe and connected again.
I work from a place of curiosity, compassion and openness. I bring an awareness of power and positionality, as I see these as influential factors in distress and forming relationship. I cater the way I work to your needs and check in frequently to adjust my approach if necessary.
Training, qualifications & experience
Prior to training as a therapist, I was a social worker in Canada and worked mostly with young people and women leaving abusive partners. While finishing my doctorate, I worked as a School Counsellor in a few Edinburgh schools. My doctorate of psychotherapy thesis investigated shame in sexual experience using an assemblage of interview encounters with autoethnography.
In recent years I've become more interested in persistent pain and chronic illness, and I engage in continuous learning about them. These invisible and often disabling realities can be isolating and alienating in that they're frequently met with misunderstanding and/or stigma. I view therapy as a space where we can reclaim and affirm the complexities and nuances of your experience that aren't received elsewhere.
Member organisations
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
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.
Areas of counselling I deal with
Therapies offered
Photos & videos
Fees
£80.00 per session
Concessions offered for
Additional information
After our initial session to see whether we work well together, I invoice for sessions on a monthly basis at the beginning of every month. So that I can hold a regular slot for you, and to maintain consistency in our work, I work within a framework where clients have three planned unpaid cancellations every six months.
When I work
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I currently have Mondays at noon and Thursdays at 10am available.
Further information
In my work with couples, I am informed by both emotionally focused and psychodynamic approaches. In the first session, I meet with a couple to discuss what they're finding challenging, then meet with each person separately for the 2nd and 3rd sessions. My fee is £100 and sessions are 60 minutes.
