About me
Queer / LGBTQ+ and tired of feeling like you’re constantly having to fit in?
Maybe you’ve spent years figuring out how to be the version of yourself that other people will accept. Hiding parts of yourself, reading the room, overthinking, people-pleasing, or keeping yourself small enough to belong.
You might know exactly who you are, but still feel exhausted from being that person in a world that doesn’t always make it easy.
Perhaps your nervous system is constantly on high alert. Maybe you’re struggling with relationships, identity, confidence, sex, dating, family, work, loneliness, or simply wondering why you feel so bloody tired.
And maybe you’re fed up with having to explain all of this before you can talk about what’s actually going on.
Working with me can help you understand yourself better, trust yourself more, and make choices that feel right for you.
Hi, I’m Ellie.
I’m an integrative counsellor working online with queer and LGBTQ+ clients.
I’m probably not what you picture when you think of a “stereotypical” counsellor (whatever that is). I’m younger, covered in tattoos, and pretty straight-talking. I’m down-to-earth and curious. I’m not interested in silently nodding while you try to work out the “right” thing to say.
I’m queer too, so I understand a lot of the cultural context behind what you might bring to therapy. The dating scene. The clubbing scene (if that’s your thing). The language, dynamics and unspoken rules. The weirdness of not quite fitting in anywhere, the pressure to perform, and how quickly you can go from feeling completely yourself to hyper-aware of how others see you.
I haven’t lived your life, and I won’t pretend that being queer means I automatically understand your experiences. But you won’t have to spend half a session explaining the context to me. You can get on with talking about you.
My aim is to help you feel more at home in yourself.
Not to turn you into a more polished, well-adjusted version of yourself, but to help you work out who you actually are underneath all the adapting, performing and surviving.
Therapy might help you understand yourself with less criticism and more compassion. You might start making choices because they feel right for you, taking up more space, letting people get closer, or doing things you've been putting off because you weren't sure you were allowed to want them.
You might still have difficult days. You might still feel overwhelmed or unsure of yourself, but those feelings don't have to dictate your entire life. I want you to leave therapy with a greater sense of choice and a feeling that you can respond to life rather than simply survive it. And perhaps most importantly, I want you to get to a point where you don’t just feel accepted by other people, but you actually feel like you belong to yourself.
For me, the therapeutic relationship is a huge part of the work. Therapy isn't just about techniques or advice. It's about what happens between us, and gradually discovering what it feels like to be genuinely yourself with another person.
I'll want to understand you rather than put you in a box. I'll be interested in what feels easy or difficult to say to me, and when you feel understood or don't. If something I say doesn't land right, I'd rather you tell me than sit there politely nodding.
Therapy isn't about me being the expert on you. You are. My job is to be alongside you, curious about the patterns that have kept you going, and help you make sense of them.
You don't need to make your experiences sound neat or reasonable. You can swear, contradict yourself, and say the thing you're not sure you're supposed to say. You can just show up as yourself.
And from there, we can work out what you want your life to look like when you’re not constantly adapting yourself to fit into it.
Training, qualifications & experience
- BA (Hons) Integrative Counselling
- BACP Registered Member
I attend regular CPD to keep my knowledge and practice up to date.
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
Fees
£60.00 per session
Concessions offered for
Additional information
I offer a free 15-minute telephone consultation so you can put a voice to the name, ask any questions and get a feel for whether we'd be a good fit, with no pressure or obligation to book.
When I work
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