My approach to counselling

As an integrative counsellor, I am interested in you as a whole person – in your mental, emotional, physical and spiritual life. I offer acceptance, empathy and support to make sense of what you’re experiencing.

I may encourage you to notice bodily responses in relation to what we talk about, or to explore deeper emotions. I am also interested in how your history shapes how you live now – having an understanding of how the past shapes our present life can help us to be kinder to ourselves, and gives the opportunity to work through old emotions and beliefs. We may also explore childhood relationships and how they link to current emotions and thought patterns. Working through all of this in the context of a safe and trusting counselling relationship can help you to move forward and make positive changes.

Next steps

If you have any questions about working together or want to have a short chat before booking, do contact me. I am happy to speak on the phone or answer any questions by email. We would then arrange an initial introductory session. This first session is an opportunity for you to tell me about yourself, and for you to get a sense of how I work. This session helps us both decide whether working together is a good fit. We can talk about what you’d like to work on, and your hopes for counselling. You can ask any questions you have about counselling or working together. I will also talk about how I practice and we can make a plan for how we will work together.

Talking about personal issues can be challenging and sometimes scary, especially with someone you don’t yet know. If you feel daunted and nervous about starting counselling, this is completely normal – we can talk about any worries that you may have.

Once you’re happy to continue, I offer regular weekly sessions. Depending on what you want, we can work short term, or longer term with an open ended number of sessions. Some people can find resolution in a few sessions of counselling, and for others starting counselling may be the first steps on a longer journey. Whatever the case, we would regularly review how our work together is going.

See my Questions & Answers page for more information on working together.