About me
Counselling is movement - " Forget your perfect offering, There is a crack in everything, That’s how the light gets in." Leonard Cohen, “Anthem”
If you are feeling stuck, anxious, sad, insecure, lonely, grieving… counselling can help.. Many people find ways to keep going. Some are positive, like exercise, healthy routines or staying busy. Others are less helpful, like drinking, endless scrolling, withdrawing or lashing out. These strategies can be exhausting: a constant effort to avoid falling into a darker place. Even if they work, they are dealing with the symptoms, while leaving the underlying issues untouched.
Counselling can help you move beyond coping. I believe we have a tremendous capacity for change. This is why I trained as a counsellor. But change is hard and takes work: our problems, painful feelings, and negative thoughts don’t go away until we have heard them and learnt what they have to teach us. To paraphrase Carl Jung, - until you make the unconscious conscious, it will rule your life and you will call it fate.
How change happens - “When I accept myself just as I am, then I can change.” - Carl Rogers
People typically don’t make many mistakes, but the ones we make, we repeat over and over again. Without exploration, the past is not dead… it’s not even past. In our work, we will explore the beliefs and coping strategies that you deliberately or unwittingly adopted at some point, when they served a purpose, but are now getting in your way. You may be aware of some of them; others may be partially or completely out of sight.
How we’ll work - “We are put on earth for a little space, so that we may learn to bear the beams of love.” - William Blake
I will offer an empathetic, supportive space where you can work productively on your goals. But the caring and compassionate space that every counsellor talks about, on its own is not enough. I also bring self-awareness, training and courage to help you put into focus what matters: your goals for change and growth.
I don’t work out of a manual, or have a fixed approach worked out before I’ve even met you. I draw on person-centred, psychodynamic, and relationship-focused theories, such as transactional analysis and attachment theories, to work with you, exploring your thoughts, emotions, behaviour, experiences, creativity, beliefs, relationships and imagination to support you in moving towards your life goals.
Training, qualifications & experience
My Qualifications:
- MBACP membership
- Diploma in Counselling (Level 4 CPCAB Diploma in Therapeutic Counselling);
- Certified Strengths Coach (CliftonStrengths);
- Trained in Non-Violent Communication (https://www.cnvc.org/)
- Mental Health First Aider (https://mhfaengland.org/)
- LLB (Bachelor of Laws); LLM (Master of Laws)
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
£65.00 per session
Additional information
I offer concessionary rates for students and may also be able to accommodate other special circumstances, so feel free to ask.
Further information
I offer a free 20-minute introductory call prior to booking a first session. This call is a chance for you to tell me what is bringing you to therapy, and ask any questions about how I work. It is also an opportunity for us both to consider whether this could be a good fit. There is no obligation to continue after this call.
