About me
Welcome to my counselling practice. You are welcome just as you are and with whatever it is that you're facing right now - and perhaps you've been trying to cope with things for some time, or a very long time. My primary aim when we meet is for you to feel welcomed, listened to and really heard in what you're dealing with. And really accepted, with whatever is going on for you. I work to offer you a space that feels safe and protected.
I offer approaches which can really help bring relief to how you're feeling.
Sharing what's going on for you can be a relief in itself. I have a very accepting and non-judging approach. I view counselling as a special space that is unlike any other, where you can be yourself, who you are, without putting on a front or mask or pretending to be different. My experience is a lot of people feel shame about themselves or their life, and counselling is about giving that shame a place, and provide a salve for such a difficult emotion or 'self state'. I've been through a lot of shame myself, and I get it. All of you is welcome. (Richard Schwartz, who developed Internal Family Systems puts it as 'all parts (of you) are welcome').
Beyond talking about and sharing problems and feelings, I have trained in some ways of personal development that are extremely effective for bringing shifts and changes to how we feel, which then helps us make changes we need to - or are able to make - in our lives. They are all gentle approaches, but they really get to the heart, the nub, the core of what we're struggling with and why.
The approaches I integrate into my practice are: Focusing (working with the body & body wisdom), Clean Language (working with metaphor and with space), working with parts of self (similar to Internal Family Systems), and drawing & making simple images (art therapy).
All these approaches work because they help us access a deeper inner knowing, or get just below the surface of talking about it. Sometimes there aren't words for what we are experiencing. Although talking with a trained counsellor is helpful and brings some relief in itself, we often we don't have all we need, in our conscious awareness to solve our issues or change repetitive and unwanted feelings, like depression or anxiety or trauma. What we need is more hidden within us but can actually be accessed quite easily by methods like these. Real shifts can happen, when we find out what it's about and also find inner resources to support us.
It's amazing how quickly we can tap into ways of expressing, representing what's happening and what we'd like to happen or be different. Resources can emerge we didn't think we had.
'Focusing' is essentially pausing from talking about an issue, or a problem feeling state, or something longed for, and learning to turn inwards, to our body sensations, our inner world, to emergent knowledge. We are tuning into our 'felt sense', which we all have but are not taught how to access or even realise that it's there. Perhaps you've had a 'gut instinct' at times in your life, where you knew something was the right thing to do or not do - it's like that, but learning to tune into this and use this on a regular basis. It's something that you can learn to do, with me as your supporter and gentle guide. I learnt to do Focusing in 2011 and it changed my life.
'Clean language' is similar to Focusing in that it is also about accessing our inner world. It uses a set of prompts: gentle questions that send you on a mini journey for the answer to your issue. The prompts are 'clean' because they add no interpretation, no suggestions or added words, just your inner world, your words reflected back to you with a new prompt. It enables you to go deep into an issue, using metaphor, inner imagery which is amazing at accessing what it is you need to solve a problem. The prompts are questions like 'and is there anything else about that....?' or 'and whereabouts is that ......?'. It's also a very empathic and non-judgemental approach like Focusing. (They also work well together).
I also offer working with images that can be drawn in-person on paper or whiteboard, or online using a basic Canva whiteboard (I can take you through how to use simple pen & colours). We've all heard the saying 'a picture is worth a thousand words'. And making simple images (we're not talking about art skills here, more stick figures, squiggly lines, shapes etc) accesses new knowledge, information, help and resources for solving problems. I'm developing - along with some others in the Clean Language community - an approach called 'Messy Drawing' (the 'messy' being 'it doesn't matter what it looks like!).
I'm also offering, in person, a process called "Clean Space". This is where you map out a problem or something you want to work on, with post-it notes in various places in the room (on the floor, chair, window, wall etc). You move from space to space and see what emerges. I offered this at a camping festival and people were excited about what happened for them using this process.
I work from counselling rooms in Hove and also work online using Zoom (you will be given a private link for each session).
It can feel daunting and scary to contact a counsellor. I'm a friendly, welcoming, understanding person, who has dealt with depression and childhood trauma using all the methods I offer to clients, so they are tried and tested. Everything happens at your pace, and I encourage you to check in with yourself to see what is right - or not right - for the unique person you are.
Contacting me : I prefer meeting either face to face on Zoom for an introductory call or session - or in person - rather than talking over the phone. It is easy to email me and we can set up an initial chat.
Training, qualifications & experience
Diploma in Therapeutic Counselling (person-centred approach), City Lit, London, 2013-16.
Certificate in Counselling Skills (person-centred approach), City Lit, London, 2012-13
British Focusing Association certified Focusing Practitioner 2019 (www.focusing.org.uk)
Postgraduate Diploma in Psychoanalytic Observational Studies, University of East London/Tavistock Clinic, 1992-7.
I have been counselling adults since 2014, and supporting people with focusing and listening since 2011.
I worked at the Centre for Better Health, Hackney E9 and at Trust The Process, Lewisham (SE8), a drug and alcohol recovery project during my counselling training.
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.
The National Counselling and Psychotherapy Society This Not For Profit association of counsellors and psychotherapists aim to support the counselling profession, members and training organisations. In 2013 the NCS register was accredited by the Professional Standards Authority under the Accredited Voluntary Register Scheme. Accredited by the Professional Standards Authority.
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
Complex trauma, developmental trauma, dissociation.
Therapies offered
Photos & videos
Fees
£60.00 per session
When I work
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Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Fridays:
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