About me
Adult Autism specialist
I first trained as a counsellor and as a psychotherapist over 20 years ago. I now work exclusively with Autistic and ADHD adults in private practice, alongside also having worked for many years with community and third sector agencies and mental health charities, including most recently at Understanding Autism North West.
The issues I most commonly work with include burnout, depression, anxiety and low self-esteem. I am particularly keen to provide a safe, accepting space in which clients can explore long-held feelings of being ‘different’ — of being tolerated but not fully accepted — or of feeling dissatisfied, disappointed and exhausted by the effort involved in trying meet others' expectations, or be ‘good enough’.
I don’t want or expect clients to change anything about themselves, especially not on my behalf. I’m not in the business of ‘fixing’ people, but do enjoy working with people to find solutions to problems.
Unfortunately, many autistic adults report poor experiences of counselling or psychotherapy where the practitioner has not had sufficient understanding of how differently the world can be experienced. I have a particular interest in supporting adults who are struggling to make sense of what it means to be autistic, and clients often tell me that the support I offer feels very different from what they have experienced elsewhere.
I am extremely keen for sessions to feel very un-pressured.
Alongside my clinical work, I am a post-grad. researcher with a particular interest in autistic workplace burnout. This research is closely informed by my therapeutic work, where I see how unaccommodating physical and social environments, and consequent harsh self-judgement, can pervade all areas of life for autistic and ADHD adults. I have a particular interest in supporting clients to understand and lessen the impact of this self-criticism, given how often it contributes to burnout.
I also have a keen interest in working with people as they move through further or higher education, or who are considering returning to education after earlier difficult or invalidating experiences.
I can offer a free initial 30 minute consultation. I'm happy to have a brief informal chat in the first instance, if you would like to know more about how I may be able to help. Please get in touch (email is best) to arrange a convenient time to speak.
I work remotely with people across the UK, and from my office in Helmshore, Rossendale.
Training, qualifications & experience
MA Autism Spectrum
Dip TA Counselling
Dip Integrative Psychotherapy
BSc. (hons.) Psychology
CBT cert
Mentoring cert
Doctoral researcher
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
Photos & videos
Fees
£65.00 per session
Additional information
£65 per hour
A limited number of concessions are available to clients most in need but unable to afford the full cost of therapy.
Further information
My specialist interest in autism is supported through my ongoing study and research at the Autism Centre at Sheffield Hallam University.
