Why being a therapist matters to me
I’ve sat in the client chair myself, so I know the courage it takes to look within and make sense of your life. I’ve always been curious about people and how we attach and connect, how we survive in the ways we do and why patterns play out.
Helping clients see what has happened to them, not what is wrong with them, brings moments of growth and healing that I never take for granted. When we understand our patterns and how the past shapes the present, life can start to feel more like how we want it to be. We can begin to count ourselves in more and feel steadier in our lives.
My background and experience
This includes private practice, school counselling services, adoption and fostering agencies, charities supporting adult survivors of childhood abuse and a sexual trauma and recovery service. Each story I’ve witnessed is not just a privilege; it continues to shape the way I work. I work relationally, because the therapeutic relationship is central to healing and creating change.
Working with adults & young people
I often find myself working and connecting with a client’s younger self, the parts that didn’t get enough space at the time. This felt a natural progression to train further and work with children and young people. Adolescence is a complex stage, so much happens in the brain that affects emotion, connection, and reactions. In therapy, we explore this together to help understand what feels overwhelming, what needs support and how we can feel more in control.
Working with parents
I work with parents to help them understand how their own lived experience and responses may be shaping family dynamics. When everyone understands themselves a little more, communication and shifts can happen in meaningful ways. Helping families move from reacting to responding.
Supporting adopted or care experienced adults and young people
I work alongside you to explore how early experiences of separation, loss, uncertainty or disrupted relationships can shape identity, safety and connection, often moving us into a life of protecting rather than connecting. Therapy can help make sense of this and support new ways of relating.
What’s it like working with me:
- I won’t always get it right. This is your journey and you’re the expert on your own story, so if something doesn’t fit, it’s ok to tell me
- If you need to swear, you swear. If you need space to cry, tears are welcome
- You don’t have to arrive as the version everyone else sees: the “be strong, be perfect, don’t let anyone down, am I doing this right” version. You can simply be you
- It can take time to trust me and that’s ok. We go at the pace your nervous system says is ok, not the pace you feel you “should” be at
- If fidgets help, you use them. If doodling helps, you doodle. If pulling thread helps, pull it. This is your space to use however you need
Like to know more? Contact me to book in a free introduction call.
Qualifications
I regularly undertake additional training and receive clinical supervision to support safe, ethical practice. I hold an enhanced DBS for working with children.
-
Advanced Diploma in Integrative Counselling (BACP Accredited Training Course) -
CPCAB Level 5 Certificate in Counselling Young People
-
DDP (Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy) Level 1 and Level 2 Informed Practitioner
-
Certificate in Adoption Support Counselling
-
Abuse and Trauma Counselling Skills
