About me

Perhaps you have always felt that something is not quite right, without being able to say what. You may feel on guard much of the time, or find that emotions arrive too strongly, or not at all. Relationships may feel both longed for and unsafe. You may carry a deep sense of shame, or of being "too much" or "not enough", or physical symptoms no doctor has been able to explain. From the outside you may seem to cope well, while inside it takes enormous energy just to hold everything together.

I am an integrative psychotherapist working with adults and young people affected by complex and developmental trauma and C-PTSD, including the dissociation that often comes with it. You do not need a diagnosis, or the right words, to begin. This is the centre of my clinical work.

Understanding complex trauma
There is a difference between a traumatic event and trauma. A single frightening event can, with enough safety and support, gradually settle. Complex trauma is different. It usually grows from experiences that were repeated or ongoing, often in childhood, and often within relationships that should have offered safety, but instead: neglect, emotional unavailability, instability, criticism, or abuse. Sometimes nothing dramatic happened at all, and yet something essential was missing.

When this is how we grow up, our mind and body adapt. We may learn to stay alert to danger, to please others, to switch off our feelings, or to rely on no one. These adaptations were intelligent and necessary at the time, but in adult life they can show up as anxiety, depression, exhaustion, difficulties with trust and closeness, a harsh inner critic, disordered eating, addiction, or a body that never quite feels at rest. Rather than asking "what is wrong with you?", I am interested in understanding what your mind and body learned to do in order to survive.

How I work
My work is strongly influenced by Janina Fisher's trauma-informed approach, and I combine relational and psychodynamic psychotherapy with attachment work, psychoeducation, somatic awareness and parts-informed work. We pay attention not only to your story, but also to what happens in your body, nervous system and relationships in the present.

I work respectfully with trauma, and we always begin with stabilisation: building enough safety and steadiness before exploring anything more painful. Moving too quickly can do harm rather than help, so the pace is set by you.

What you can expect
This is long-term work. Patterns that formed over many years need time, patience and a consistent relationship to change. While the work is not quick, clients do come to feel steadier, understand themselves more deeply, and find that life feels more their own. I offer sessions in person at my private practice room in Chigwell, a short walk from the tube, and online across the UK.

Training, qualifications & experience

Qualifications:

MA in Integrative Psychotherapy and Counselling, Regent's University London
MBACP (Accred)
Diploma in Counselling Children and Young People, SPC Training Academy
Certificate in Children's Brain and Emotional Development, The Tavistock and Portman NHS
Diploma in Psychosomatic therapy (mind-body trauma work), PSY2.0 Moscow
Life-coaching, Animas London