About me
Hello. If aspects of your life feel challenging or overwhelming just now, or if you are grappling with relationship, family, personal or other issues, then reaching out for professional support will likely be a positive step forward for you. You may be feeling stressed, anxious or sad, from something happening right now, or grieving the loss of someone in your life. Perhaps you want to find healing from some unhappiness stemming from experiences in your past, or are feeling depressed and low in confidence without knowing why. Whatever your reason for seeking counselling, I can offer you a warm, safe, supportive and non-judgemental space where you can take the time to explore your thoughts and feelings and find your way back to surer ground.
I am an experienced and well-qualified BACP-registered counsellor. I work with adults in face-to-face/in-person sessions in two different locations - at my private practice in Wigglesworth, near Settle, and also at the Lightwell Practice in Skipton. I also work with clients online by Zoom and by phone.
I can offer you long-term, open-ended work, or shorter, time-limited counselling according to need. What you want from the therapy process, and how we agree to work together will form an important part of our discussion at the beginning of therapy. My aim is to be alongside you in a supportive, therapeutic relationship which helps you to explore anxious or difficult thoughts and feelings, to help you to heal from old wounds and to reflect with self-compassion and kindness on events and relationships in your life which may have had a significant impact or long-term consequences on your emotional and physical well-being.
Through the therapeutic process I will support you to recognise habitual ways of feeling and patterns of behaviour which may be linked to past experiences, and to find greater peace of mind, and sense of control in your life.
Training, qualifications & experience
I am a postgraduate-qualified, trauma-informed, counsellor and psychotherapist. I have worked with clients in my private practice for the last nine years, and before that for a number of years with clients in the charity and voluntary sectors and the NHS.
In addition to my clinical work in psychotherapy, I spent many years working in the UK university sector in the field of student support services where I gained extensive experience of working with vulnerability, the impact of early life trauma, with culture shock, cultural identity, loneliness, peer pressure, academic and career-related stress, anxiety, suicide ideation and many other issues.
I hold a Postgraduate Diploma in Transactional Analysis (Psychotherapy) Studies, further to successfully completing four years of psychotherapy training at Metanoia Institute (validating body - Middlesex University). I have undertaken extensive professional development training in areas including personality disorders, domestic violence, self-harm and suicidality, diversity and mental health.
My non-clinical qualifications include an undergraduate degree (MA Hons) in French and a postgraduate degree (MA) in European Languages and Cultural Studies.
I offer counselling and psychotherapy services in the Skipton and Wigglesworth - convenient for Settle, Ribble Valley, central Skipton and surrounding areas. I am fully insured and adhere to the code of ethics of the professional bodies with whom I am a member and registered.
These are some of the issues I work with in therapy:
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Living with symptoms of ADHD / neurodiversity
- Domestic violence, including emotional and psychological abuse
- Trauma - response and recovery
- Living with Functional Neurological Disorder (FND)
- Relationship breakdown
- Family difficulties
- Stress
- Infertility/IVF
- Menopause challenges
- Low self-esteem / low confidence
- Living with pain and disability
- Cultural identity
- Cultural transition and culture shock
- Bereavement, grief and loss
I have worked with clients in the following sectors:
- NHS
- UK higher education
- The voluntary sector
- The charity sector
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
Other areas of counselling I deal with
Living with symptoms of Functional Neurological Disorder (FND)
Therapies offered
Fees
£50.00 per session
Free initial telephone session
When I work
I work some parts of mornings and afternoons on all weekdays. I can also offer some evening sessions. Please do get in touch to discuss current availability.
Further information
Initial chat
If you contact me initially by email, it may be useful for us also to have a short conversation on the phone, so we have a chance to talk a little more about what is bringing you to therapy and what support you are seeking. It's also a chance for you to ask me any questions, for example about how I practice, how therapy works, the practical arrangements, or anything at all that you are unsure about.
What will happen in our first session
In our first therapy session I will invite you to say something more about the issues that you are struggling with, and what you would like from the therapy process, including any specific goals, so we can plan how to move forward. It’s important to feel some rapport for a therapist because this will influence whether the work is successful or not. You can see how you experienced working with me in this first meeting and decide whether or not you would like to continue for a further period. Please note that the first session is a paid-for session.
Therapy spaces
My therapy practice in Wigglesworth provides for a very comfortable and confidential space, with own bathroom facilities and parking. There is a small step up over the door threshold and also down into the bathroom. Wigglesworth is most easily reached by car.
The Lightwell Practice in Skipton offers a welcoming, private therapy space in a very convenient, central location in the town. Please note however that there are several steps down (with handrail) to the Cosy therapy room. Bathroom facilities are available in the High Corn Mill and there are various options for parking, if needed, both on-street, outside the practice and in car parks nearby.
