About me
Who am I and what am I all about?
I’m Martin. I came to counselling through my own experience of therapy and self-discovery, and I know how valuable it can be to have somewhere you can speak openly, understand yourself better and begin to see familiar problems from a different perspective.
I work with a broad range of people and concerns, but I work particularly well with men, both gay and straight. Some of the issues I commonly work with include anxiety, low mood, low confidence, people-pleasing tendencies, difficulties with boundaries and complicated or recurring relationship dynamics.
You don’t necessarily need to know exactly what is wrong before coming to therapy. Sometimes there is a particular problem; sometimes there is simply a sense that something isn’t working as well as it could be.
How do I work?
I would describe my way of working as straightforward, open, patient and non-judgemental. I want you to feel able to talk honestly with me, including about thoughts, feelings or behaviour that may be difficult to admit to yourself or to other people.
I won’t tell you how to live your life, but neither will I simply sit back and agree with everything you say. I will listen carefully, support, ask questions, offer different perspectives and, where it feels useful, challenge you respectfully. Therapy can involve understanding why certain patterns developed, but it can also involve recognising your own part in them and considering what you may want to do differently.
For me, good therapy combines empathy and support with curiosity, honesty and appropriate challenge.
Why is it useful?
Therapy can help you make better sense of yourself and the patterns that affect your relationships, confidence and emotional wellbeing. You might want to become less anxious, stop automatically putting other people’s needs before your own, become more confident in setting boundaries, understand why certain relationship difficulties keep repeating, or find a clearer sense of what you want from your life.
Change is rarely immediate or perfectly straightforward. Sometimes understanding ourselves involves looking at things we have avoided or becoming more honest about the choices available to us. My role is to help you explore this at a pace that is manageable, without judgement, while supporting you towards greater confidence, choice and autonomy.
Am I right for you?
Finding the right therapist matters. You won’t know for certain whether we are a good fit before we meet, and neither will I. The first session gives us an opportunity to talk about what has brought you to therapy, what you would like help with and how it feels for us to work together.
My aim is to make that first meeting as relaxed and straightforward as possible. There is no expectation that you arrive knowing exactly what to say or having your problems neatly worked out.
I work with a wide range of concerns, with particular interests around anxiety, low mood, confidence and self-esteem, people-pleasing and boundaries, relationship difficulties, identity, direction and finding greater meaning or purpose in life.
If you'd like to see how I work in a little more detail, visit my website at the following address:
I work privately from my home address in West London. Brentford is a local area close to Kew, Isleworth and Richmond. My location is served well by local trains and buses from Hounslow, Isleworth, Chiswick, Richmond and Ealing. I am close to Brentford Train station and a short bus ride from Gunnersbury tube station.
I am also a registered provider for CIGNA Healthcare Insurance. If you're a member and wish to use CIGNA to fund your therapy sessions, please let me know when you inquire.
Training, qualifications & experience
I hold a BA (Hons) Degree in Integrative Relational Counselling from Middlesex University, as well as an AQA Counselling Skills Certificate. I am BACP accredited and have been in full time private practice since 2017.
Member organisations
school Registered / Accredited
Being registered/accredited with a professional body means an individual must have achieved a substantial level of training and experience approved by their member organisation.
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
Other areas of counselling I deal with
A significant part of my work is with men of different ages, both gay and straight. Men come to counselling for many reasons, including anxiety, low mood, low confidence, people-pleasing, relationship difficulties, questions around masculinity and identity, fatherhood, and uncertainty about their direction in life.
I also work with younger men who may be trying to understand themselves better as they move into adulthood, particularly where confidence, relationships, identity or finding a sense of purpose have become difficult.
Although men make up a large proportion of my client work, my practice is not exclusively for men. I welcome people who would like somewhere to explore what is troubling them, understand recurring patterns in their lives and relationships, and consider what they may want to change.
Therapies offered
Fees
£80.00 - £125.00
Concessions offered for
Health Insurance/EAP
Additional information
Individual counselling: £80 per 60-minute session
Couples counselling: £105 per 60-minute session
Sessions are usually weekly and continue for as long as they are helpful to you.
Appointments are available Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday.
When I work
| Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Early morning | |||||||
| Morning | |||||||
| Early afternoon | |||||||
| Late afternoon | |||||||
| Evening |
Further information
Alongside my private practice, I teach counselling skills and theory to adult learners at a local further education college. My wider counselling experience includes providing counselling through a local authority Occupational Health service, as well as working within a local NHS setting.
These different roles have given me experience of working with people from a wide range of backgrounds, circumstances and stages of life, and continue to inform the way I work in private practice.
