About me
Welcome! During the Coronavirus Crisis, I am offering appointments by phone and also video call across a range of (safe and easily available) platforms. I am also offering walk and talk sessions in local countryside for those who would like to meet face to face.
I have a private practice in Keynsham, which is easily accessible by public transport from both Bristol and Bath, and I offer a shorter, free introductory phone consultation to help you decide whether you would like to work with me. I offer both short and long-term work.
I am trained to work with both young people and also with adults and offer a safe and non-judgemental environment where you feel welcome and accepted as you are. My aim is to put you at your ease so that we can build a trusting relationship to talk to about difficulties or worries in confidence.
How counselling can help
As a Gestalt therapist, I am interested not just in the issues that trouble you, but in what is happening in the wider context of your life and its impact on you. I hope our conversations and contact will, in a gentle way, help bring greater awareness, clarity, and balance to your life, so that difficulties diminish and you feel stronger and have a greater sense of wellbeing and being able to achieve your potential.
How I work
While many people feel comfortable talking one to one, others, and especially young people, can find just sitting still and talking about emotional issues harder. Being able to use a range of media like art materials, clay, games and other sensory tools can really help with expressing feelings and thoughts that it might be difficult to put into words initially. I offer all these possibilities within the space I work in.
Who I work with
I work with adults and also with young people, and with couples and families when there are difficulties within relationships.
I have specialist training and experience in working with trauma, anxiety and panic attacks. young people, families (be they birth, adoptive or with children-in-care), carers, depression, self-harm, relationship difficulties, eating issues, and abuse of all kinds. I have a particular interest in the impact of childhood experience on later life.
What to expect
The process of finding a therapist should always be a mutual one. Speaking on the phone first - or emailing - offers an opportunity for you to find out what I can offer and whether you feel comfortable enough to work with me. It is an opportunity for you to tell me about what seems not to be going well and what you'd like support with. If when we first meet you don't feel at ease, that is something to pay attention to, as the relationship between the therapist and client is vital as it is through that relationship that so much repair and healing can come about.
Training, qualifications & experience
I am trained and have many years experience of working with both young people and with adults, within the NHS, schools, private practice and the Third Sector.
- Post Graduate Diploma in Gestalt Therapy
- Post Graduate Certificate in Group Work,
- Certificate in working with Children and Adolescents using a Gestalt Approach
CPD (Continual Professional Development) training including:
- Resilience Building
- Motivational Interviewing
- Certificate in Therapeutic Mentoring (Trauma Recovery Centre, Bath)
- Mental Health First Aid for young people
- Advanced Safeguarding training
- Louise Hayes: DNA-Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for young people
- Action Trauma: Intergenerational Trauma and Childhood Experiences
Professional Membership:
- I am a Member of the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) and on its Accredited Register.
Member organisations

British Association for Counselling & Psychotherapy
BACP is one of the UK’s largest professional bodies for counselling and psychotherapy. Therapists registered with the Association fall into a number of different membership categories such as Individual Member, Registered Member MBACP and Registered Member MBACP (Accred), each standing for different levels of training and experience. MBACP (Accred) and MBACP (Snr Accred) members have achieved a substantial level of training and experience approved by the Association.
Registered members can be found on the BACP Register, which was the first register to achieve Accredited Voluntary Register status issued by the Professional Standards Authority. Individual Members will have completed an appropriate counselling and/or psychotherapy course and started to practise, but will not appear on the BACP Register until they've progressed to Registered Member MBACP status.
All members are bound by a Code of Ethics & Practice and a Complaints Procedure. Accredited by the Professional Standards Authority.
Accredited register membership

Accredited Register Scheme
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
Initial telephone consultation (up to 20 minutes): Free
Individual counselling: £45.
Couples and families: £55
Concessions offered for
Further information
As a member of the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy, I work within its ethical framework for the counselling professions. I also have regular supervision and am committed to the development of my own skills and expertise by undertaking regular Continual Professional Development.
I work in Keynsham, in a larger counselling room in a discrete location offering greater space for family and group work. It is within easy walking distance of the train station and bus routes and there is some free parking nearby. Whilst we are in the midst of Covid-19, I am working remotely, by phone, Zoom, What's App, FaceTime or other secure media. I am also now offering walk and talk sessions where we can meet face to face safely.