David Cox (BACP registered)

So, you are here because you are looking for some therapy and that involves trying to find the right person for you. It isn't always easy to find the right therapist with so many approaches and so much available out there. For me, good therapy is all about the relationship you build and about taking risks together to move towards change. I am there to get stuck in with you and to be honest about what is happening and the conversations we have. Good therapy can be a profound and life changing experience: understanding who we are, what we want and why we act and behave in certain ways can be really confusing, frustrating and leave us feeling lost, but it can bring so much richness out the other side. This is a journey I like to take with clients and I like most of all to work with people who can see there is a problem and are prepared to get actively involved in shaping their lives and making changes (despite the fear!).

Therapy for me is about doing, not just talking. I've been there myself to experience the best and worst, and the experiences I have had have had a profound impact on how I live my life. I know it can be difficult opening up to someone, especially whilst you get to know each other. I see the therapy room as a dynamic space and (where appropriate) like to integrate models and psychoeducation into the work I do with clients, offering a mixture of challenge and support. For me, it's important to be an active participant in the room with my clients and to really help focus on the issues in hand - whatever they happen to be for you. I like to check in with how the work together is going and make sure that I am the right therapist throughout the process. I will be honest about my feelings about this.

Ultimately, I want to help my clients change and shift what is stuck and to help them grow. I am passionate about this and love my work. I am caring and open and can be direct too. I work in a trauma-informed way, which means that making sure you feel safe with me in the room and that we don't "reactivate" past trauma in an unhelpful way, before you can process it properly. As a man, it feels especially important that I have a focus on safety for all my clients.

I am interested therefore in working with men's health issues, with the creating and upholding of positive masculinity and role models - whilst I value working with all genders and backgrounds. I am a passionate advocate of equality and in humanities capacity for change, self-reflection and self-improvement.