When we begin therapy, we’ll probably agree to meet for an assessment session to enable us to see the bigger picture moments of your life as well as the challenges you are facing today. I often propose we follow this with one or two “getting to know you” sessions. This helps you to gauge you feel comfortable with me and me to gain a sense that I can help you. It also gives us an opportunity to discuss the best way to move forward.

I aim to build a therapeutic relationship with you in which you feel able to speak about anything you wish to – perhaps the only space in your life where you can do so. Together we will co-create a comfortable, non-judgemental, and confidential space that helps you feel at ease. The emphasis in our work will be exploring what is important to you, at a pace which suits you. I will regularly invite you to check in with how we are doing and answer any questions you may have as we consider what has ignited your therapeutic journey and gain a better understanding of what is going on in your life.

My approach to psychotherapy holds in mind your best interests. It is relational, holistic, and informed by the latest research. It aims to support you to improve the quality of your life – whatever that may personally mean.

Often the issues that bring clients into therapy are due to unresolved experiences that continue to shape beliefs about ourselves, how we experience other people and behave in relationships, and how we move through our life today. Generally, therapy zeroes in on alleviating the challenging emotional legacy left by exposure to distressing and traumatic life experiences.

We may not be aware that issues in our current lives are rooted in past experiences, often in our childhood. Experiences such as: being undervalued or neglected, deprivation, being sexually or physically abused, witnessing violence, experiencing an accident or traumatic loss, unmet physical or emotional needs, significant separation from a parent (caregiver), being criticised or ridiculed, having an anxious, absent, chaotic, or mentally ill caregiver, to name but a few. We may have developed coping strategies and behaviours that protected us back then but are now past their ‘sell by’ date and have consequently led to scripts, beliefs and ways of being that thwart us today from resolving our current challenges.

In our sessions, we will stabilise some of the immediate issues you may be experiencing and explore how these are impacting your life. Together we will discover your strengths, resources, essential qualities, and your innate capabilities to develop the potential which may be lying dormant within you. By gaining these insights, you can begin to take charge of your life and implement change to enhance your experience of life.

I am also mindful of the social and cultural forces surrounding us and the ways in which sexuality, gender, ethnicity, faith, and class form us. My work is grounded in the transpersonal which to me means I am interested in you: mind, body, and soul. It also means walking alongside you, guiding you where appropriate and requested, as you find answers within yourself. Through this work, you will be able to feel more centred, stronger. My hope is that you find deep self-acceptance and meaning in life’s difficulties and that in so doing, you will rekindle a sense of aliveness, connectedness and manifest relationships with both others and yourself that are characterised by warmth, acceptance, compassion and authenticity.