About me
If you feel anxiety is running your life and you are burning out with all the overthinking and constant overwhelm please get in touch so we can take a look at dialing things down a bit by first understanding what is driving your anxiety then see if we can recalibrate it so it isn’t constantly bundling you into the panic room in your head and affecting your ability to enjoy life.
My feeling is anxiety is there to help us stay safe otherwise we’d be taking crazy risks all the time and diving headlong into situations where, if a part of us HAD said “hang on a minute, is everything as good as it looks or is something a bit off here?” we might have saved ourselves a lot of time, pain and upset.
I think the trouble starts when our anxiety gets into the driving seat of our lives and becomes our habit, our default way of being. We feel “on high alert” most of the time (which affects sleep, appetite, social life, can even give us nausea) so this emotion that means well and is actually trying to protect us is now causing more problems than it solves and sustaining unhelpful coping strategies like over-eating (as an aside, I also have solid training and much experience in dislodging the habit of eating your feelings using Understanding You Eating framework.
Over time, anxiety running the show can have a knock-on effect of undermining how we feel about ourselves, we can lose sight of who we are and what we like, leading to low self-confidence and low self-esteem (and we can also work together to boost both those).
If much of your angst is coming from your relationship, particularly when the same old arguments keep looping round and round like Groundhog Day escalating into a row then the good news is I am a fully trained and experienced Couples (Relationship) Counsellor . We can take a look at those "here we go again" eye-rolling moments where a conversation flips from “lovely” to “argument” in a nanosecond with just a look or a shift in tone. If you’re exhausted by it all yet powerless to get out of this hurtful, destructive cycle by yourselves then please think about making contact with me, thank you.
So… I offer a calm and non-judgmental breathing space in which you can put the World on hold and, with no one making demands on you, reflect, pinpoint what’s really troubling you, get to the root cause then choose what, if anything, you want to do about it.
To find out more probably the best thing to do is come along and experience what it would be like to work together by having a (non-chargeable) “chemistry test” session. To see if I am available at a time that suits you and to book please call 07950 986 085 or email here.
As mentioned above, I can also work with you if you have a troubled relationship with food, specifically if you turn to eating to feel better when you feel down or upset or angry (so eating to manage feelings), rather than turning to other people or coping strategies that don’t have the side effect of weight gain and with it, for some, health risks or getting stuck on the soul-destroying , self-esteem sapping treadmill of yo-yo dieting. You may know this as binge-eating, disordered eating, comfort eating or compulsive eating.
I am an “integrative-relational counsellor” meaning once I have met you, I pick the best from several types of therapy (buzzwords you may have heard like EMDR, CBT, person-centred, humanistic, psychodynamic, mindfulness and so on) to make a blend tailored to you. Like a bespoke scent made especially for you rather than pushing you through the same old sheep dip regardless of your preferences or needs.
Research shows* that of all the factors determining how well therapy goes our therapeutic relationship accounts for 30% of likely success, hence “relational” and my studying a degree which taught me how to make best use of our relationship.
My approach is to work with you not only on those, apparently mystifying, forces that hold you in a tangled and unhappy present but drawing on your strengths as we go so as to boost self-belief that you can untangle your life. I work face to face in person and also online using Zoom or Teams.
I run a private practice from my base in Weybridge. Before taking 5 years to train as a counsellor, culminating in a 3 year BA (Hons) degree, I worked for 28 years in the private sector so I have insight into the stresses and strains of balancing work and life as well as experience of the ups and downs of life generally. I was granted the status of BACP Accredited Counsellor by the BACP in early 2019 (this is, in effect, a quality standard for counsellors). I am also recognised by Aviva, Bupa and WPA medical insurers.
I have worked as part of the teams delivering counselling to NHS patients at two busy Surrey GP surgeries and with The Counselling Partnership, a BACP accredited charity, offering counselling for anxiety and depression from three locations in Surrey.
I look forward to hearing from you and to the prospect of working with you, thank you.
* = Assay, T. P., & Lambert, M. J. (1999). The empirical case for the common factors in therapy: Quantitative findings. In M. A. Hubble, B. L. Duncan, & S. D. Miller (Eds.), The heart and soul of change: What works in therapy (pp. 33-56). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Training, qualifications & experience
- EMDR Standard Training (52 hours of lectures, practical experience
and case supervision in EMDR Therapy as required by EMDR Europe Association). - ‘The Un-Making of Them’ (a diploma training in specialist psychotherapy with Ex-Boarders at post-graduate level involving 64 hours of lectures and practical supervision with ongoing supervision).
- Diploma in Couple Work (76.5 hours of training).
- Understanding Your Eating (42 Hours) and Advanced Certificate in Eating Disorders (30 hours) both with Professor Julia Buckroyd.
- FdA / BA Hons in Integrative-Relational Counselling
- How to do counselling on line - a coronavirus primer
- Extending your skills in working with grieving people (seminar held by Dr Lois Tonkin, Cruse West Sussex)
- Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction Course
- Mental Health First Aid Course
- Understanding How to Support People with Dementia and Their Carers
- NCFE Level 3 Award in Counselling Skills and Theory
- AQA Certificate in Counselling Skills Level 2
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.
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 - £100.00
Health Insurance/EAP
Additional information
£80 per 50 minute counselling session (individuals)
£100 per 60 minute counselling session (couples)
Introduction to Understanding Your Eating: this can be done in as little as 5 confidential sessions, each one hour long, over five consecutive weeks at the same rate at individual counselling. Typically though memories and issues come up which we work on as we go along so I would say the norm is 6 - 10 sessions.
When I work
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