About Me
I'm particularly interested in helping people reach their potential. I want you to not feel held back by worry, or your history, or the circumstances you are in. I want people to be the best version of themselves that they can be. I love the process of transformation. When someone I'm working with realises what is not working, and why, it enables them to let go of old, unhelpful ways and start afresh. Life can then be full of possibilities and opportunities.
I'm also fascinated by the link between mind and body. I tend to encourage people to pay close attention not only to their thoughts and feelings, but also the sensations, aches and pains in their bodies. This is all useful information for figuring out how you are currently coping and what the root of the problem is.
I am an Accredited Counsellor/Psychotherapist and Registered Member of the British Association of Counsellors and Psychotherapists. BACP Accreditation is a quality standard for experienced practitioners. As a Registered, Accredited member of the BACP, I have demonstrated high standards of training, knowledge, experience, development and competence. I am committed to working to the standards set out in the BACP Ethical Framework for the Counselling Professions.
I have an Enhanced Criminal Record Bureau Disclosure dated February 2020.
All my counselling work is supervised by an experienced Psychotherapist.
My Qualifications & Training
Accredited Registered Member of the BACP
HE Diploma in Therapeutic Counselling
Certificate in Bereavement Care (OCNW Accredited)
Bereavement Matters Conference
Sudden and Traumatic Death
Mental Capacity Act 2005
Awareness of Child Abuse & Neglect
A psychodynamic approach to short-term counselling
I can help with...
Anxiety
Bereavement & suicide
Depression
Relationships
Work or study related stress, redundancy
An alcoholic in the family
Improving self-confidence, self-worth & self-esteem
Pregnancy loss
How I work
I welcome enquiries from individuals and organisations about what I can offer
Short or Long-Term Therapy
After our initial discussions about what you'd like to get out of your sessions with me, you can decide whether you'd like a fixed number of sessions, or whether you'd like to keep working in a more open-ended way. At first, you might not know how long this is going to take. That's OK. I'm experienced in working both on a short-term basis, say 6-8 weeks, or longer-term.
Specialist expertise in bereavement
I have 12 years experience of working with loss and death. If you are struggling to come to terms with the death of someone who means a lot to you, then I can offer counselling to help you explore the worst parts of your grief. I can help with:
Death of life partner, parent, child or pregnancy
Sudden or unexpected death
Times when more than one person has died
When you have experienced a series of bereavements over a period of time
If the death happened a long time ago
Death of someone following prolonged illness
Death of someone you were caring for
Pregnancy loss/miscarriage
Recent deaths
Coping with the death of someone who is terminally ill
Coping with anniversaries and birthdays
Working with organisations
I have been accepted by RedArc nurses to offer counselling to their patients.
I work with the Miscarriage Association to support people coping with the loss of their pregnancy.
What to expect
When you first make contact I will:
respond as quickly as possible
ask a little about the difficulties you are facing, to make sure I am the right person to help
find a suitable time to meet, if you would like to
make a note of your telephone number and email address
email you to confirm the time and location of our meeting, if we have arranged to meet.
What to expect from our first meeting
The nature of our first meeting will be very different from any following meetings. This meeting is about asking questions and finding out about you and the counselling I offer. We will then decide whether we would like to carry on working together in the future. If we do, we will read over the contract together and talk about how many sessions you might like. Sessions are weekly.
The first session will last 50 minutes and will cost £27.
What to expect from subsequent sessions
Your counselling sessions are your space to explore your thoughts and feelings. I will follow your lead and you can start wherever feels most appropriate to you. If you don't know where to start, that's OK too. Together, we will work it out. Periodically, we will look at where you started, where you are now and which things still need to be explored - to make sure your counselling sessions are giving you what you need and that we are on track.
Counselling sessions last 50 minutes and cost £47 per session.
What to expect from our last session together
Our last session is a chance for us to look back over our work together. We can note the high points and low points. Finally, we will say our goodbyes.
Last counselling sessions are 50 minutes and cost £47 per session.
Protecting your data
When you contact me with an enquiry about my counselling services I will collect information to help me satisfy your enquiry. This will include your name, your email address and your telephone number.
If you decide not to proceed I will ensure all your personal data is deleted within 30 days. If you would like me to delete this information sooner, just let me know.
Your privacy is very important to me and you can be confident that your personal information will be kept safe and secure and will only be used for the purpose it was given to me. I adhere to current data protection legislation, including the General Data Protection Regulation (EU/2016/679) (the GDPR), the Data Protection Act 2018 and the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003.