About me
About me
I work in a way that is compassionate, direct and grounded in reality. I’m not a therapist who will simply agree with everything you say, nor do I believe the purpose of therapy is to make difficult feelings disappear. Sometimes life is painful, uncertain and unfair. Therapy can help us face that reality without being overwhelmed by it.
I believe there is value in understanding why we think, feel and behave as we do, but insight alone isn’t always enough. At some point, something has to change. That might mean confronting something you’ve avoided, questioning a belief you’ve held about yourself for years, accepting something you cannot change, or taking responsibility for the things you can.
I don’t believe in forced positivity. I’m more interested in what is true, what matters to you, and what might actually help. I will listen and try to understand your experience, but I will also challenge you when I think it could be useful. You are free to disagree with me. In fact, I’d rather you did than simply tell me what you think I want to hear.
I’m influenced by the idea that facing what frightens or unsettles us can reveal strengths we didn’t know we had. Camus wrote, “In the depths of winter, I finally learned that within me lay an invincible summer.” I don’t take that to mean everything happens for a reason, or that suffering is somehow good for us. Sometimes life is just bloody difficult. But I do believe difficult periods can show us what we’re capable of and change our understanding of ourselves.
Ultimately, I want our work to lead somewhere. There may be things you need to change, things you need to confront, and things you simply need to accept. My role isn’t to tell you how to live your life, but to help you understand yourself more clearly, recognise what is and isn’t within your control, and make choices you can stand behind.
How I work
I don’t work from a fixed programme or assume that one type of therapy will suit everyone. I’m trained across several approaches, including person-centred, psychodynamic and existential therapy, CBT and DBT. I draw on these differently depending on who I’m working with and what we are trying to understand or change.
For some people, our work involves looking at the past and understanding how earlier experiences continue to influence the present. For others, the focus is much more on what is happening now: patterns of thinking or behaviour, relationships, difficult emotions, particular decisions, or changes they want to make. Often it is a combination of both.
You can expect a balance of support and challenge. There will be times when I listen and give you room to work something through, and times when I ask questions, offer another perspective, notice a contradiction or challenge something that seems important. I don’t follow a formula, and I won’t assume that what worked for somebody else will work for you.
Working with couples
I also work with couples, where my focus is on the relationship rather than seeing either person as “the problem”. We might look at patterns of communication and conflict, what happens when you become stuck, what each of you brings to those patterns, and what may have become difficult to say or hear.
My role isn’t to decide who is right, take sides, or referee your arguments. Couples therapy involves trying to understand what is happening between you and why, while helping each person look honestly at their own part in the relationship. From there, we can consider what needs to change and what each of you is prepared to do differently.
My experience
Alongside private practice, I have worked across NHS CAMHS, adult forensic services, probation services, schools and colleges. This has given me experience of working with people from very different backgrounds and circumstances, and with a wide range of psychological and emotional difficulties.
I have additional training in couples and family therapy, working with children and young people, anxiety and depression, and working with autistic and ADHD clients.
Getting started
The first session is a free, 30-minute online consultation. It gives us an opportunity to get to know each other a little and decide whether we feel we could work well together.
I’ll ask about what has brought you to therapy, your current situation and what you hope to get from our work. I’ll also explain how I work, what the therapeutic process might look like, and some of the practical aspects of starting therapy.
There will be plenty of opportunity for you to ask questions too. There’s no obligation to continue afterwards; the purpose of the consultation is simply for us both to decide whether working together feels like the right fit.
Training, qualifications & experience
- BA (Hons) Counselling and the Psychotherapeutic Relationship
- CBT-E (Enhanced Cognitive Behaviour Therapy)
- DBT (Dialectical Behaviour Therapy)
- Advanced training in Couples Counselling
- Advanced training in Family Therapy
- Advanced training in Working with Neurodivergent Clients
- Advanced training in Creative Therapy
My professional experience includes working within NHS CAMHS and adult forensic services, the Probation Service, and providing counselling within schools and colleges. Alongside this work, I maintain my private practice, working with both individuals and couples.
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
£70.00 per session
Concessions offered for
Additional information
individual therapy £70 per session
couples therapy £100 per session
family sessions £200 per session
When I work
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Further information
I offer both face-to-face and online appointments, and you are welcome to use a mixture of the two. You don’t need to decide in advance whether you will work exclusively online or in person; you can choose whichever suits you for each appointment.
Clients manage their own appointments through a simple online booking system, allowing you to choose the dates and times that work best for you. My availability is published eight weeks in advance, and I generally encourage clients to book a block of sessions ahead so that they can secure the days and times that suit them.
There is no minimum or maximum number of sessions. We can work together for as long as the therapy remains useful, and regularly consider how things are progressing and whether you want to continue.
Appointments can be changed or cancelled without charge with at least 24 hours’ notice.
For face-to-face sessions, my private practice is in a quiet rural location approximately five miles west of Banbury. It is straightforward to find, and I will provide clear directions before your first in-person appointment.
