My Counselling Style
My counselling style is approachable, empathic and insightful. I know how important it is to feel that your counsellor ‘gets’ you, and is able to bear anything you wish to share with them. I believe the counsellor/client relationship should be a creative partnership in which we work together to understand why you feel the way you do, to explore how you could change and, in time, to accept or mourn for those things which cannot be changed.
As your counsellor, my role is not to give you advice or tell you what I think you should do, nor is it simply to offer sympathy or reassurance. It is to help you to understand what has made you the person you are, to recognise how your past experiences have shaped you, and explore how this has affected your way of relating to others. I would do this by encouraging you to talk about your feelings, your relationships, your memories, and perhaps your dreams. There is nothing that cannot be talked about in counselling, and sometimes profound insights can come from seemingly trivial memories or incidents.
Whatever you tell me, I will listen carefully and respond thoughtfully. I might offer interpretations, make observations, or suggest links with other experiences you have described. If I think it will be beneficial to the work, I might gently challenge something you have said, or sometimes I might say nothing and sit in silence with you. If managed sensitively, silence can be a creative opportunity to think and reflect together.
Counselling is a journey which is unique to every client. As counsellor it is my role to be with you on that journey, not to tell you what your destination should be or which route to take.
Qualifications and Experience
I qualified as a Psychodynamic Counsellor in 2016, having completed a rigorous five-year training through the Counselling Foundation, including a Diploma and Advanced Diploma in Psychodynamic Counselling. This training programme is accredited by the British Association of Counsellors and Psychotherapists (BACP). Following qualification, I have been seeing clients in private practice since 2017.
A vital part of my training has been to undergo psychotherapy myself, to better understand my own unconscious processes and develop my self-awareness. I know how it feels to be a client, and that it is not easy to consider sharing your private thoughts and feelings with a stranger, and I am always mindful of your need to feel safe enough to do so with me.
Prior to setting up my private practice, I worked for a charitable counselling agency, where I worked with both long- and short-term clients, and also assessed new clients for suitability for therapy. I have also worked as a grief counsellor for a bereavement charity.
As an accredited member of the BACP my practice has been deemed to meet its higher standard as a competent, ethical and independent practicitioner. As a member I am bound by its Ethical Framework, am committed to ongoing professional development, and receive regular clinical supervision.
