About me
If you are here because a child or teenager in your life is struggling, self-harm, suicidal thoughts, sudden changes in behaviour, or big feelings that don't make sense or because you are an adult who is starting to connect the dots between your childhood and how you feel now, I would like to help.
I work with, children and teenagers in crisis, including self-harm and suicidal feelings, using play, creativity and a pace that follows the child rather than a script.
Adults healing from childhood trauma, using a mix of talking therapy, body-based approaches and where it helps, Parts work to understand different aspects of yourself.
Neurodivergent clients (ADHD), autism, dyslexia and other differences, helping you identify your own strengths rather than fitting yourself into a neurotypical mould
Anxiety, stress and burnout, particularly where these are connected to unprocessed experiences from earlier in life.
Training, qualifications & experience
I am a BACP Accredited Member, a voluntary standard that goes beyond registration and requires demonstrating additional depth of practice, training and supervision. I hold a Level 4 Diploma in Therapeutic Counselling and a Level 5 Diploma in Counselling Children and Young People and I am currently completing a BSC (Hons) in Psychology with Counselling.
Sessions are available across the week, mornings, lunchtimes, evenings and weekends, in person in Odiham/Basingstoke or online. Most clients start within a week or two of first contact. no waiting list.
Every clients starts with a free 15 minute consultation (online/telephone), so you can ask questions and get a feeling for whether I am the right fit before deciding anything.
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
One area I am particularly passionate about is supporting Children through trauma and adults through childhood trauma.
Children requires a completely different approach than adult therapy. Their healing to trauma happens through play, creativity, and felt safety rather that traditional talk therapy. I specialise in creating therapeutic environments where children can heal naturally, at their own pace, without being overwhelmed or retraumatised. Children can be impacted by many experiences that adults might not immediately recognise as traumatic. Family separation, Death, Accidents, Bullying, Natural disasters, Moving home, Neglect, Being separated.
Children's minds are incredibly adaptive and when something is too painful or confusing to understand, the psyche may, block out specific memories while keeping the emotional impact, minimise experiences, dissociate mentally during overwhelming moments, create internal stories that make sense of confusing experiences and develop fierce independence to avoid vulnerability. These protective mechanisms serves a child well but they can create confusing symptoms in adulthood where adults feel the effects without understanding the cause.
Trauma shows up in children such as regression in behaviours, bed wetting, fear of sleeping alone, sudden changes in behaviour or moods, withdrawal from activities, difficulty concentrating, physical complaints without medical causes, repetitive play themes, aggressive behaviour and fear of separation.
My child-Centered approach is that children heal through relationship, safety, and play. Having a absolute safe place to welcome the child, filled with toys, art supplies and comfort items. Meeting the child exactly where they are emotionally and developmentally, participation in activities at their own pace and letting the child lead the session while providing gentle guidance, building the trust slowly and honoring the child's natural defenses. I also recognise that supporting a traumatised child means supporting their entire family system without breaking confidentiality. Recovery is a family journey and I will be here to guide and support everyone involved in the child's healing process.
Supporting childhood Trauma Healing. Before we explore any difficult territory, we spend time building what trauma specialists call 'resources' your toolkit for staying grounded and regulated, helping the nervous system to relax, building awareness of your body's signals and honoring them. My work is guided by understanding how trauma affects the whole person. Mind, body and spirit. we will work together to focus on building your sense of agency by going at your pace. Offering choices whenever possible to restore sense of control, celebrating small victories and building confidence, helping children to understand that their reactions are normal, teaching about the brain and body's response to scary things, normalising big feelings and providing tools to manage them, creating simple explanations for confusing experiences, building emotional vocabulary through play and stories.
Often adults seek therapy for seemingly unrelated issues, only to discover connections they had forgotten or dismissed, these suppressed traumatic experiences can manifest as, unexplained anxiety and panic attacks in certain situations, sleep disturbances, nightmares, digestive issues, feeling disconnected, compulsive behaviours such as overeating. Emotional numbness and overwhelming feelings, sham and self-blame, trust issues, people pleasing and boundary issues and self sabotage when things are going well.
Adults who are recognising how childhood experiences continue to influence their present-day life. Connecting with your younger parts of yourself that carry old pain. It is about bringing compassion to the child you were who did their best to survive by acknowledging the resourcefulness and strength of your younger self. offering comfort and validation that was not available then, helping to understand that child's perspective with adult wisdom, developing a nurturing voice to counter old critical messages. Separate what happened to your from who your are.
Therapeutic method that I draw from depends on what serves you best, from Somatic approach when working with body sensations, EMDR principles, helping the brain process stuck memories, Internal Family Systems concept, understanding different parts of yourself, Attachment theory, exploring how early relationships shaped your patterns. Mindfulness practices, developing present moment awareness and self- compassion, Creative therapies, using art, imagery when words are not enough and Narrative therapy, helping you become the author of your story.
Trauma lives in the body not just in the mind and much of the work will be involve, learning to listen to your body's signals without fear, releasing chronic tension and hypervigilance gradually, reconnecting with your body as a source of wisdom rather than danger, understanding how trauma symptoms are your body's attempt to protect you and developing a sense of safety and home within your own skin.
Therapies offered
Fees
£60.00 per session
Additional information
Call/message or email me for an appointment for a 15-minute free initial assessment.
This gives you the opportunity to discuss your situation, and from that we can we can create a plan on how we can best work together and discuss any important issues such as confidentiality. During this time I will ask to obtain your email to send you the counselling agreement and once that is read and signed we can proceed to booking you in for a counselling session.
Each session costs £60 and must be paid for upfront prior to the session. I also offer a package of 6 sessions for £340 (saving £20).I offer flexible working hours, before bedtime for children and after work for adults. I am available during the day, lunch times and evenings. For online work, I will send you a link to your email. You don't have to worry about anything else. Please call to discuss anything else. Thank you for your time.
You can Pay via Bank Transfer.
When I work
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Further information
My therapeutic approach to counselling is integrative which means I am able to adapt my way of working to each individual person be that short- or long-term therapy.
