I am an experienced and fully-qualified counsellor and private psychotherapist, registered with the BACP, and with a previous history of working in the NHS and with the Samaritans. Before I became a therapist, I used to commission and edit psychology books for one of the world's biggest academic publishers.
I follow an "integrative" approach in my work, meaning that I was trained in a number of different theoretical perspectives, combined in a way that reflects who I am and responds to the needs of whoever I work with. My approach to the therapeutic relationship is based on a deep respect for each person’s individuality and a sincere belief in their own natural potential to understand themselves and achieve whatever change they seek.
Experience tells us how easy it is in today’s world to lose ourselves and struggle to cope, and how rare and important it is to find a person or place where we can speak openly about our struggle and be truly heard. This is what I aim to provide in my work: a safe environment where you can share whatever emerges, and which enables you to reconnect with the kind of person you wish to be.
WHY THERAPY?
You might be very clear about the changes you seek in your life, or you might be struggling to put your finger on what exactly is troubling you or holding you back.
Perhaps there are things in your past you feel the need to explore, or there might be more recent situations and relationships that you are finding it difficult to cope with.
Whatever it is that brings you here, therapy has the potential to enable you to create positive change in your life. All you need to bring is yourself, and all you need to be is open to learning about yourself.
HOW TO BEGIN
If you're interested in working with me, just get in touch via phone, email, or the form below (whatever method you prefer) and I will get back to you within 24 hours. If you email me, please check your spam folder if you find yourself waiting for my reply.
It will help to know a little bit about what has brought you to counselling, and what times in the week might work best for you.
Assuming we can match your schedule and my availability, we will arrange an initial meeting and you can decide after that if you want to continue meeting on a regular basis.
WHERE AND HOW MUCH
I can meet you in person face to face in counselling rooms conveniently located near Wimbledon train/tube station.
If it's more convenient for you, we can also meet online via Zoom or speak on the phone without video.
However we meet, our sessions will always be 50 minutes long and the fee for each session will be £70.
COUNSELLING IN THE PARK
Sometimes it helps to step outside and experience the benefits of fresh air, exercise, sunlight, and proximity to the natural world.
I have limited availability for outdoor therapy sessions in the beautiful surroundings of Richmond Park, London's largest National Nature Reserve. Please ask and I will do my best to accommodate you.
What's bothering you? What are you struggling with?
Abuse. Affairs. Ageing. Anger. Anxiety. Bereavement. Boarding School. Childhood Experiences. Depression. Divorce. Dreams. Emotional Disturbance. Friendships. Frustration. Intimate Relationships. Life Transitions. Low Self-esteem. Marital Problems. Midlife. Misophonia. Panic. Parenting Issues. Relationships. Sadness. Self Harm. Sex and Sexuality. Sleep. Stress. Suicidal Thinking. Trauma. Work.
Labels like this tell us very little about your actual individual experience.
And not every problem has a neat label, or a neat solution.
But talking about it can often be the first and most important step in relaxing its grip on you.
WHAT I BELIEVE, AND HOW IT WORKS
The aim of therapy is to deepen self-awareness, self-knowledge, and, most crucially, self-acceptance. None of us will ever know ourselves completely, and our lives and our relationships are very profoundly affected by the things we do not know and do not accept about ourselves.
Therapy provides a fertile environment for cultivating deeper self-knowledge via a relationship between you and your therapist which respects your individual experience of life and recognises your singular expertise in the matter of what it means to be YOU.
I will not offer you off-the-shelf solutions or diagnoses, and I do not deal in judgement or pre-packaged advice. I do not know before we begin exactly what your healing looks like, but I do know that the answer lies within you, and I will do my best to walk alongside you in the process of its discovery.
Armed with a deeper level of self-awareness and acceptance, we cease to be powerless victims of forces beyond our control, and we begin to acquire instead a greater sense of agency: the possibility of doing things differently, and of shaping a future which does not have to involve reliving and repeating the same old painful patterns of the past.
