How clients have responded
Most clients I have worked with have not had counselling before and many are unsure of how the sessions will be when they start. After a few meetings, however, they begin to settle and feel more at ease. Many say they are surprised by how they respond and value the opportunity to speak to someone who is not a friend or a family member and while there are no guarantees, many have left counselling with a stronger sense of themselves, internally and in their relationships.
Experience
From 2018-20, I was privileged to be part of the Family and Carers Team at Pavilions in Brighton and Hove. There, I counselled clients who were deeply affected by someone they cared about, using drugs and alcohol.
​​
From 2016-19, I was a counsellor at St Barnabas House, a hospice in Worthing. I had the honour of supporting clients who had lost a loved one or were anticipating losing a person they were very close to. Many clients were carers.
Registration and Qualifications
• Certificate in Online and Telephone Counselling accredited by the Association for Counselling and Therapy Online (ACTO) and The National Counselling Society.
• Registered member of the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP)
• BACP - accredited Diploma in Humanistic Integrative Counselling from Wealden Psychology Institute
• MA Gender Analysis in Development and BA (Hons) American Studies
My Approach
At a basic human level, I believe a person's development is influenced in relationship and when someone has a chance to be heard and understood by another person, this can in itself be helpful. The therapeutic relationship is at the centre of my work and I bring myself as a human being first in a genuine way to my counselling.
​
I see each client as a unique individual and as whole - mind, body and spirit. As each person is different, I integrate holistically a range of therapies to suit their needs.
​
The Person - Centred Approach
​​
The Person-Centred Approach is the bedrock of my practice. The client is at the centre. I value you as a person and offer a safe and confidential environment for you to be in.
​​
Gestalt
​​
Gestalt means 'whole' and I draw on this therapy to help increase your awareness of how you are responding in the present moment – particularly in your body. Gestalt offers a more active role for the counsellor and the potential to introduce creative tools such as drawing, working with objects and role-play.
​​
Transactional Analysis (TA)
TA is a theory of personality, childhood development and communication and part of TA's focus is on a person having different ego states – Parent, Adult and Child. In the past, clients have found TA easy to understand and share with others and extremely useful when talking about their relationships.
Attachment theory
​​
Attachment theory can help in understanding how your relationship styles may have developed from early attachments to caregivers or significant others. In referring to these ways, we focus on the here and now and how the past may be informing the present.
​
Above are the main therapies that I integrate. In addition, I may draw upon:
​
-
Mindfulness - which can bring focus to moment-to-moment experience and help you to feel more aligned and grounded.
​
-
Strategies for Childhood Emotional Neglect (CEN) if you feel emotionally empty or have difficulty identifying how you are feeling. These strategies help to develop connections to yourself.
-
And also, I may refer to Polyvagal theory which can help bring attention to how you are responding in your nervous system and could be helpful in identifying trauma.
​
