Individual therapy
Counselling
People come to counselling for many different reasons. You may be struggling with how you’re feeling, experiencing difficulties in your relationships, or finding yourself caught in patterns that keep repeating. Perhaps there are things about yourself that are difficult to understand, or feelings that are hard to know or put into words.
You don’t need to know exactly what is wrong, why you feel as you do, or what needs to change before coming to therapy.
We can begin with what is happening for you now and take time to understand it together.
How we come to experience ourselves and others
How we experience ourselves and others develops over time. Through our early experiences of being with others, we begin to form expectations about ourselves, other people and what happens between us.
We may find ways of responding that make sense in the circumstances in which they develop, even when those ways of responding later become limiting.
Some feelings, thoughts or aspects of ourselves may also become difficult to know or stay with, particularly if they have felt unacceptable, threatening or unlikely to be understood by others. We may push them away without consciously choosing to do so.
And I don’t assume that everything we experience now is explained by the past. Our biology, our relationships and what is happening in our lives now matter too. Therapy gives us time to explore what is contributing to your experience and how these different influences interact.
What therapy with me is like
In our sessions, I pay attention to what you tell me and also to what may be emerging as we talk: feelings, bodily experience, different parts of yourself, and what happens between us.
Some things may be easy to talk about; others may be harder to know or put into words. I won’t rush towards an explanation or try to make unwanted feelings disappear. Instead, we can stay with what is happening, with curiosity and compassion.
How you experience me matters too.
There may be times when something feels difficult between us or when you feel I have misunderstood you. These moments can be talked about too.
Over time, experiences and ways of reacting that previously felt confusing or automatic may begin to make more sense. As we understand these patterns, there is more possibility for something different. Feelings, thoughts or aspects of ourselves that have felt unacceptable or threatening may become easier to know and stay with.
Something that has previously been avoided can begin to feel different when it is met with compassionate understanding rather than judgement or turning away. We may begin to understand and relate to it differently ourselves.
As you come to know and allow more of yourself, you may have more freedom in how you respond, relate and live.
Sleep and counselling
If you are struggling with sleep alongside what has brought you to counselling, we can work with this too, drawing on my background in sleep and circadian science.
Work with me
I offer individual counselling for adults online. Sessions last 50 minutes and usually take place once a week at the same time.
You can contact me by email. We can arrange an initial session to talk about what has brought you to therapy, give you an opportunity to ask any questions, and get a sense of what it is like to talk together.