About me
If you’re feeling overwhelmed, anxious, or struggling with loss, you don’t have to face it alone. I’m a Gestalt therapist with over 10 years’ experience, supporting people through anxiety, depression, relationship issues, and bereavement and loss, including complex grief.
Feelings of anxiety and depression often show up when you’re going through changes, whether that’s coping with bereavement, the end of a relationship, job changes, or moving home. These transitions can be stressful enough on their own, but sometimes they also stir up old feelings from the past, making it even harder to cope.
In Gestalt therapy, we don’t see these feelings as problems to be fixed or pushed away. Instead, we see them as signals that something important is happening inside you. Anxiety, for instance, can be a valuable guide. It might be inviting you to take a brave step, have a difficult conversation, or move toward something meaningful. Or it may be showing you where it’s time to let go, whether that’s of control, expectations, or situations that no longer feel right. By noticing how anxiety appears in your body - maybe as tightness, racing thoughts, shallow breathing, or a lump in your throat - we can begin to understand what it’s pointing to.
Gestalt therapy helps you reconnect with your own capacity to make choices in the present rather than being ruled by fear, tension, or sadness. In our sessions we’ll explore practical ways to help you feel more grounded and supported right from the start. This could include simple exercises like mindful breathing, grounding techniques, or gentle body-awareness practices. We may also use small experiments - such as focusing on your breath, exaggerating a gesture, or speaking with a part of yourself - to help you notice patterns that may be keeping you stuck. We’ll look at the bigger picture, including your lifestyle, sleep, diet, movement, and relationships, because anxiety and low mood often touch all these areas.
Gestalt therapy is a warm, creative and engaging approach, centred on what you’re experiencing right now. We’ll work together in a supportive way to help you slow down, tune in to what’s happening within, and trust these feelings to guide you towards healing and greater fulfilment. Along the way, we’ll discover creative, practical ways to try out new approaches together, making positive changes feel possible and manageable.
Our work together can be as flexible as you need. Sometimes it's helpful to focus on a particular challenge over six to twelve weeks, while at other times, you may want to give yourself more space for deeper understanding and lasting change. We can chat about what feels right for you and adjust things as we go along.
If you want to know more about me or Gestalt therapy or how long we might need to work together, then please get in touch. We can schedule a free introductory phone or Zoom call, or book an initial consultation, either in-person or online, to meet and see if we feel like the right fit.
This is what some of the people I have worked with have said:
“Through working with Sam, I am now able to approach challenges I may face through a different lens, allowing me more balance and peace of mind.” – N
“The work that I undertook with Sam during our months together has helped me to be more confident and assured in setting boundaries in my personal and professional life.” – L
“I have been able to make peace with traumatised parts of myself and begin to show compassion and kindness to myself for the first time.” - P
“I felt very at ease with him from the initial phone call onwards and I felt like I mattered which helped me to open up about painful issues.” – H
What to expect
I offer an initial 50 minute consultation at £30 as an opportunity for you to explore what you wish to gain from counselling and so that you can get an experience of me and how we might work together.
Following this, sessions are typically weekly, for 50 minutes. Fees are £65. We will aim to find a regular time slot that works for us both. I typically have some slots available during the day and some evenings.
I believe strongly that counselling should be accessible to all and so I offer a limited number of low-cost, concessionary spaces within my practice. Please contact me to enquire about current availability for these.
Location
My practice rooms are on the junction of Church Road and Wilbury Road in central Hove. Unfortunately these are not disability accessible. My rooms are easily accessible by public transport and on-street parking is available outside and there are also car parks nearby.
Training, qualifications & experience
I graduated with a Post Graduate Diploma in Humanistic Psychotherapeutic Counselling from the University of Brighton and I have a Certificate in Counselling from the University of Chichester.
I am also trained as a bereavement counsellor and am ASIST trained (Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training). I have undergone specialist trauma training with Dr Janina Fisher, a leading expert on working with and integrating trauma. I have also completed trauma focused training with Dr Frank Anderson on integrating Internal Family Systems into trauma work.
I am a registered member of the BACP (British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy). I hold full, professional liability insurance.
I have worked with CRI (now CGL) supporting homeless people in Brighton and Hove. I have also worked in a variety of commercial roles, in sales and marketing, management and business consultancy. This has given me a wide experience working with work and career, such as successfully achieving career changes and work - life balance.
In accordance with BACP guidelines, I am committed to continuous professional development through training courses, workshops, personal therapy and supervision.
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
Free initial telephone session
Concessions offered for
Additional information
I offer an initial 50 minute assessment session at £30 as an opportunity for you to explore what you wish to gain from counselling and so that you can get an experience of me and how we might work together.
Following this, I charge £65 per-session. Sessions are typically weekly and last for 50 minutes.
Please contact me by either phone or email and I will respond as soon as I am able and certainly within 24 hours. As I am often with clients please leave an answerphone message.
When I work
Available for daytime and evening appointments
Further information
Hove:
Located on the junction of Church Road and Wilbury Road in Hove. This is around 15 minutes walk from Hove train station.
Bus routes 1, 1A, 6, 49 and 60 stop outside. Routes 7, 21, 21A and the Coastliner 700 all stop nearby.
Street parking is available outside at £1 for an hour.
Brighton:
I work at the Brighton Therapy Practice, located in the centre of Brighton, near the Brighton Pavilion. My rooms are easily accessible by public transport and parking is available nearby.
