Our lives today are busier and more demanding than ever. Sometimes when you’re struggling, talking to friends and family can be invaluable and sometimes you really do need professional support.

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I offer you a safe, caring, and supportive environment where you can take the time to focus on yourself and what is troubling you. With decades of experience, I’m able to help you get clear about what is happening, what you want to change and what will work for you to create the change you desire.

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My approach is completely individualised and my training and experience means I have a broad range of skill and knowledge upon which to draw.

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Initially sessions involve exploring what brought you to counselling, any queries you may have and a full history in which to truly understand you. These initial sessions may in themselves be enough to bring clarity and relief to current difficulties as well as an opportunity to receive some professional feedback and support. You may choose to continue counselling sessions with specific goals in sight or to check in whenever you need some support and care.

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Counselling or Psychotherapy?

Whilst sessions may incorporate some of both, one way to understand the difference is to consider these brief descriptions:

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• Counselling is really about helping you manage a current situation or challenge that doesn’t have a history attached to your life in a significant manner. You may be at turning point where you need support to make big decisions, you may have conflict with someone and need skills help to manage this well, or you might be facing a particularly stressful time in an area of your life. Using counselling we can explore the issues, help you get clear about what you want and determine the best way for you to move forward. We do this within the parameters of your personal values and vision of how you want your life to be.

• Psychotherapy is a term used for working with the deeper determinants of your current feelings, behaviour and self-concept. Together we look at your family of origin, your lifespan of experiences and how they influence you today. Understanding these subtle influences can help you to make sense of how you feel and why you may fall into some patterns of behaviour or choices that you don’t seem to be able to change just by wanting to. Helping you understand these deeper aspects of yourself is the first step toward creating the life you want. My focus in psychotherapy is to help you feel self-informed, self-esteemed, and independent so that you can engage in all areas of your life authentically.

 

What issues can counselling and psychotherapy help?

• Emotional crises – a traumatic event, or a loss of some kind: death, relationship ending, job loss

• Relationships – difficulties with marriage, partner, family, friends, work colleagues or feeling isolated with few, or unfulfilling relationships

• General moods – dissatisfaction with life, pervasive anxiety, panic attack, phobias, anger, depression, low self-esteem, stress, emptiness or loneliness

• Past – childhood trauma, abuse, neglect, abandonment, loss

• Specific issues – eating disorders, panic attacks, phobias, trauma

• Unhealthy coping – becoming withdrawn, drinking too much or drug use, emotional eating, losing interest in relationships and social activities

• Identity – emerging from your family of origin as a unique individual with a clear and confident identity

• Personal growth – to gain more from life, deepen understanding of self, explore and grow, develop good self esteem and confidence