At times life can feel overwhelming; personal struggles and difficulties can affect our quality of life and mental well-being. No matter how big or small you feel a problem is, there is no need to struggle alone. We all need a listening ear and emotional support during challenging times; a warm, confidential and safe space to explore our thoughts and feelings.

As a professional therapeutic counsellor and a registered member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP), I offer a high standard of confidentiality and will provide a safe and private space to talk.  Although, confidentiality will be broken if there is a serious risk of harm to yourself or others, and in very rare cases where required to by law.

Counsellors support and affirm their clients’ own choices and help them to arrive at decisions which suit the client.  Suggestions can be made but never imposed on the client and the choice of whether or not you choose to do anything with what we discuss is yours.

As a counsellor I work in a proactive way to identify core issues and to understand things from your perspective.  I will gently encourage you to explore any limiting beliefs and ideas.

Most of my work is open ended and long term, which means that counselling will progress for as long as we both feel necessary for you. Some people find that a short term counselling of 6 sessions is enough for them, this will be discussed during the initial phone consultation. Sessions will go at a pace that you feel comfortable with. I suggest an initial commitment of at least 6 sessions in both short-and long-term work. Real changes require deep and meaningful work and it can take time and willingness to get to the core of the issues.

Your sessions will usually be weekly, on a set day, at a set time, and last for 50 minutes. If your situation requires a different arrangement then please do get in touch to discuss this further. I can also try to make myself available for additional or longer sessions if needed.

You are free to end counselling whenever you choose to. If you are thinking about ending then I suggest we discuss this before the last session. Please do not worry that I will try to convince you to stay, you are in control, but it is beneficial to dedicate a good session or two to the ending, so that we can explore what has been achieved and what endings represent for you. Sometimes a break in counselling can also be useful and when coming back to counselling it can feel like a shift has taken place and progress has been achieved.

No, not at all, you can self-refer at any time.