About me
Choosing a counsellor is a personal decision, and one of the gentle questions you may find yourself asking is: “Why might this person be the right counsellor for me?”
If you were to give me that trust and ask me to work with you, you will find me to be a counsellor who will listen carefully, respect your choices, and help you make sense of your own story without telling you who to be. Your life experiences, and decisions you choose, are yours alone. Therefore my approach is centred on autonomy, trust and the belief that meaningful change happens when you feel safe enough to explore things in your own way.
I do not see counselling as a place where I give advice or take control of your decisions. Instead, I work alongside you, helping you explore what feels important, what may feel stuck, and what choices might be available to you. This make me a 'Person-Centred' counsellor.
Choice and autonomy
Choice is at the heart of how I work. I believe that being able to choose freely, without pressure, judgement or expectation, can be deeply powerful. Counselling can help create the space to hear your own voice more clearly, especially when life, relationships, grief, anxiety or self-doubt have made that difficult.
My role is not to fix you, but to support you as you reconnect with your own values, direction and sense of self.
Creative counselling
I also work creatively where this feels useful. Alongside talking therapy, I may use storytelling, metaphor, symbols, cards, games, maps or reflective exercises to help you explore your experiences in a different way.
Some people find it easier to understand what they are carrying when they can picture it as a journey, a landscape, an obstacle, a story or a part of themselves waiting to be discovered. This creative work is always optional and led by you.
Grief, loss and change
I have experience supporting people through bereavement, grief and loss. I believe that, in many ways, all life involves loss. This might be the death of someone important, but it can also be the loss of identity, confidence, relationships, certainty, childhood, health, purpose or the future you imagined.
My background in bereavement helps me work sensitively with people facing emotional pain, change and uncertainty in many different forms.
Working with young people/adults
I also have a background in education and have spent much of my life working with young people and young adults. This has shaped the way I relate to those who may be exploring identity, confidence, pressure, belonging, relationships or their place in the world.
I aim to offer counselling that feels human, collaborative and empowering. Your story remains yours. My role is to walk alongside you as you explore it, understand it, and decide what the next chapter might look like.
Training, qualifications & experience
I hold a CPCAB Level 4 qualification in counselling skills, alongside previous CPCAB Level 2 and Level 3 counselling skills training.
My counselling experience includes bereavement work with Hospice in the Weald, where I have supported clients through grief, loss and significant life changes. This work has included face-to-face, online and telephone counselling, giving me experience of working with clients in different ways, depending on what feels most accessible and supportive for them.
I have also worked as a school counsellor in schools across the Sevenoaks and Tonbridge area, supporting young people with a range of emotional, relational and personal difficulties. Alongside this, I worked for Kent Adult Education as a Level 2 CPCAB counselling skills tutor, helping adults develop their own understanding of counselling, communication and self-awareness.
I am part of Trinity Therapy, a counselling practice I run with two colleagues. This allows me to work within a supportive professional environment while offering counselling that is warm, ethical and client-centred.
Before counselling, I worked for many years in education as an art and design teacher, including pastoral roles supporting young people and young adults. I also have a creative background in art, theatre, storytelling and design, which continues to shape the way I work therapeutically, particularly when clients find metaphor, imagery or creative reflection helpful.
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
Other areas of counselling I deal with
- Life transitions and change
- Identity and self-exploration
- Loss of purpose or direction
- Shame and guilt
- Meaning-making after loss
- Creative and symbolic counselling
- Storytelling and metaphor in therapy
- Role-play and therapeutic games
- Young adult identity and independence
- Educational stress
- Finding your voice
- Decision-making and autonomy
- Anticipatory grief
- Pet bereavement
Therapies offered
Fees
£50.00 per session
Concessions offered for
Additional information
My standard fee is £50 for a therapeutic hour, which is a 50-minute counselling session. I also offer 60-minute sessions at £60.
I offer a reduced rate for weekday daytime appointments, with £5 off the usual session fee.
Concessionary rates may also be available for students, trainee counsellors, key workers and others who may need financial support. Please feel welcome to ask about this when contacting me, and we can discuss what may be possible.
