About me
When we feel our minds and bodies are working against us it can overwhelm and isolate us.
Past experiences can leave a lasting impact on the brain, body and sense of self. This can cause chronic anxiety and depression, difficulty trusting and connecting with others, low self-worth or shame, dissociation or numbing, fear of abandonment or rejection, people pleasing or extreme independence. Also body based symptoms such as fatigue, chronic pain and gastrointestinal issues.
I am an experienced therapist, using a Trauma-informed, Attachment and Body-based approach. We can gently explore how early experiences may still be living in your body today, shaping how you connect with yourself, others and the world around you.
Starting therapy allows us the time to listen and notice, to make sense of, to process. To rebuild boundaries, a sense of self and safety. It validates and empowers. Attending your first session can be the start of real and lasting change.
Healing from early trauma is absolutely possible.
I know how important it is to find the right therapist, one with whom you feel accepted and safe enough to explore the impact of painful and personal experiences. For this reason I offer a free initial meeting to help you decide if I am the right therapist for you.
Client written testimonials:
- "These sessions have been a blessing that I will cherish forever." A
- "Thank you for your understanding, kindness and caring." J
I appreciate the value of early intervention so alongside my private practice I am a Designated Safeguarding Officer for a local charity. I assist in training and supervising their practitioners in providing 1:1 emotional listening support in schools.
For the adults and young people I work with counselling offers effective methods to bring about change:
My approach
My theoretical perspective is Humanistic, believing that with the right support we have the ability to fulfil our potential: to be open, present, trusting, creative and fulfilled. Being Integrative enables me to draw from a range of approaches. These include Person-Centred: to help you reconnect with your inner values and sense of self-worth. Gestalt: to increase understanding of thoughts, feelings and behaviours. Transactional Analysis: to help promote personal growth and change through the way you relate and communicate with others.
I also use a body-based approach, Somatic Therapy, along with insights from Attachment Theory. We will work with both what you are feeling emotionally and what is happening in your body - because trauma often lives in both. I help clients understand how early relationship patterns may be impacting their current relationships, self-worth or ability to feel safe.
When words are hard to find, creative approaches can also be helpful, such as sand tray and drawing. When I think an additional approach might be helpful it will be offered as an invitation, keeping your preferences very much in mind throughout.
The First Meeting
"We are made through relationship, wounded through relationship...it makes sense therefore that we are healed through relationship."- John Welwood
Extensive research has shown that, regardless of approach, it is human connection and acceptance that makes therapy productive, so our relationship will be key to you feeling safe and supported. An initial meeting will help you decide if I am the right therapist for you, whilst I ensure that I have appropriate training and competence to support you.
I offer in person, online (via Zoom) and telephone sessions. Please feel free to contact me with any questions or to arrange an initial meeting via one of these methods.
Training, qualifications & experience
I am fully qualified and a registered member of the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP). I can be found on the BACP Register which is accredited by the Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care.
My qualifications include the BACP accredited Diploma in Humanistic Integrative Counselling (Wealden Psychology Institute) specialising in three main approaches;
Person Centred, Gestalt and Transactional Analysis.
I have counselled children in schools in MidSussex, bereaved clients in a hospice setting and have specialised training and experience working with clients with Acquired Brain Injury.
I adhere to the BACP ethical framework and in my commitment to continuing professional development I have additional training in: Somatic Therapy; Anxiety; Depression; Children, Young People and Families; Trans/Gender Identity; Mindfulness and Stress Reduction; Trauma and Recovery; Trauma in the Boarding School Experience; Sexual Abuse; Attachment Styles; Child Protection and Multi-Agency Safeguarding.
I have current Enhanced DBS Clearances.
I attend regular supervision and have full-cover professional indemnity insurance.
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 long and short-term counselling. Sessions are weekly. I do not ask clients to commit to a set number of sessions. Most are ongoing with regular reviews.
When I work
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Further information
My office is situated in the centre of Haywards Heath, 10 minutes walk from Haywards Heath mainline station. Free local on street parking.
