What you're going through might not be reflected in the below list, and that's ok.

If you think we'd be a good fit, I'd gently encourage you to reach out to me - so we can discuss what's happening for you and if we might work well together.

• Feeling low, a bit numb or quite disconnected
• Anxiety and persistent worrying
• Stress, exhaustion or overworking
• Difficulties in your relationships
• The impacts of a difficult childhood
• Feeling alone or isolated
• The pressure to succeed or keep up with others
• Self-esteem, confidence and not feeling good enough
• Cultural identity and belonging
• Discrimination, racism and ableism
• Hair loss

Early on, we can discuss what you think you  might want and need from therapy. I'll then work collaboratively with you to understand how you're finding things along the way: Examples of things you might want could include:

• Understanding yourself more - like why you might be feeling a bit numb, low or anxious.
• Uncovering the root causes of struggles in your relationships or work-life.
• Processing the long-term impacts of damaging events or periods of time in your childhood.
• Coming to terms with big changes, like a painful break up.
• Or maybe, there's something else you'd like to find support with - which I'd be more than happy to discuss with you in your free consultation.

We can also regularly review the the therapy, as we go - and make suitable adjustments along the way.

I'm an Integrative and relational Therapist which means I use a mix of therapeutic approaches to adapt your specific struggles or challenges. My two main therapeutic approaches are person-centred therapy and psychodynamic therapy.

Person-centred counselling is centred around trust, support and openness - where you feel able to talk freely about your honest thoughts, feelings, worries, emotions and beliefs. It aims to help you understand yourself more and fully express what's true for you. This can help you to make sense of why you might feel the way you do, find new ways of coping with your difficulties and just feel more like you.

Psychodynamic counselling is centred around helping you to get a full sense of where the difficulties you're experiencing are truly stemming from. The root causes of our struggles are often hidden from our conscious awareness - and many of the difficulties we face as adults stem from adverse childhood experiences. Experiences that might be filled with things like neglect, a lack of safety or constant stress at home. This approach helps us look at how our past might be clouding our present. It's about helping you to understand yourself on a deeper level and finding long-lasting change.

Some benefits to this types of therapy

• You'll have full control of the pace and direction of the therapy.
• You can figure out why you feel the way you do.
• You can get to know the core beliefs and emotions that are working behind the scenes.
• You can heal old wounds - that might be interfering in your life.
• You can learn about your repeated patterns - and build new ones.
• You can find long-lasting change and personal growth.

I’m able to work short-term (typically 8-12 sessions) or long-term/open-ended. In my experience, difficulties with lots of history can take time to unpack and in these cases, longer-term/open-ended work will be more effective.

This is something we can discuss during your free consultation. It's also worth me saying that whether we work short-term or more open-ended will be your decision. I may offer a gentle recommendation, based on my experience, but it will always be your final choice.

• More able to balance our sessions with your work-life, family-life or other commitments.
• You can save time and money on car journeys, train journeys or bus rides.
• You can join from the comfort of your own home - which might be particularly helpful if you're needing to manage a disability or health-condition. 

However, there are a few important things to consider when thinking about having counselling sessions online:

• Are you comfortable using internet technology like Zoom?
• Do you have access to a space that you can use privately without interruption or being overheard?
• Do you feel safe in your own home or the location you'd be joining from?

I first had counselling as a young person in secondary school and then again in my adult life. Working with a counsellor gave me a consistent and safe space to put words to my feelings and emotions, and to make sense of what I was going through. 

Counselling also helped me to unpack how my early-life experiences were shaping my present. At that time in my life, I wanted to understand myself more;

• Why I felt a deep hunger for validation.
• Why certain situations made me feel like a powerless child.
• Why certain life changes worried me so much.

With time and compassion, counselling helped me to start finding some answers to those questions, helping me form a different kind of relationship with myself - a more gentle and understanding one.

It's why I chose to become a counsellor myself; to offer others what was given to me.

• What we discuss during our sessions is confidential - it's rule number 1 in counselling.

• There is no right or wrong way for you to do counselling and you won’t be judged on how you’re performing.

• Counselling often involves talking about difficult topics. So, it’s very normal for things to feel a bit worse before they feel better.

• Counselling is not about quick fixes or expert advice. It involves helping you to understand yourself on a deeper level - so that you can find meaningful change and growth.