About therapy
Counselling gives you room to breathe, space to think, and a chance to explore your options for how things could be different.
In the therapy room, you don't have to hide your feelings, or apologise for them. Whatever’s on your mind - the future, the past, family, love, purpose, life, death - nothing is off the table.
There could be all kinds of reasons you’re here.
Perhaps low mood or worry feels overwhelming. Maybe you keep finding yourself having the same problems in relationships. You might want to make a change, but don’t know where to start. Perhaps you’ve been feeling for a while that something is just ‘off’.
When we work together, I’ll listen attentively, question gently, and offer new ways to explore your ideas and feelings.
Counselling is a process of discovering that it’s possible for things to be different for you, and that there are choices available to you that you may not have realised.
It’s a powerful thing to be in a room where all of you is welcomed.
Yes, in therapy you might cry - but you’ll almost certainly laugh too. Your sadness, joy, anger, hopelessness, worry, curiosity, shame, humour, and strength are all allowed.
Counselling gives us new choices.
Although I draw on a number of different approaches to suit each person I work with, my core training is in Transactional Analysis (TA).
TA helps us to explore the way that our life experiences shape the decisions we make (including the limitations we put on ourselves), and the way we interact with others. Often, we’re not aware of these decisions - it’s what we’ve grown up with, so it’s just what we’re used to.
Counselling can help us to notice the way these decisions have shaped our lives, and give us the opportunity to make different choices.
When we work together, I'll regularly check in with you to make sure that the way we’re working is helpful. If you ever have a feeling of something ‘missing the mark’, I will always (always) welcome you telling me. Giving your therapist honest, in-the-moment feedback is a little-known but very empowering and helpful part of counselling.
I know first-hand how life-changing counselling can be, as I’ve spent plenty of time in the ‘client chair’ myself over the years.