About me
I’m curious about what brings you here, but I won’t assume I already know what your experience means.
You don’t need to arrive with a neat story or the right words. We can take our time, notice what is happening, and think about it together.
I’ll ask questions, offer things I notice and, at times, challenge something when that seems useful. I’m not there to tell you who you are or what you should do. My job is to help you understand yourself more clearly, and to work alongside you while you decide what matters.
My route into psychotherapy
I came to psychotherapy later in life, after many years working outside the profession. I returned to university as an adult to study psychology, psychotherapy and counselling, then completed postgraduate training in integrative psychotherapy.
I think coming to the work this way has shaped how I practise. I’m interested in people as they actually are, rather than in how they are supposed to be, and I don’t assume that change follows a neat or predictable path.
What matters to me in therapy
My training is integrative, which means I draw on more than one way of understanding people. Those ideas help me think, but they don’t give me a ready-made explanation for you.
I’ll sometimes offer what I’m noticing or a different way of looking at something. You may agree, disagree, or feel I’ve missed the point. I want us to be able to talk about that.
What happens between us can sometimes become part of the work too. If something feels uncomfortable, unhelpful or difficult to say, I would rather we were curious about it than quietly work around it.
I also want us to be able to ask whether the therapy is helping and whether anything in the way we are working needs to change.
Training and professional status
Undergraduate study
BSc (Hons) Psychology with Psychotherapy and Counselling, awarded with First Class honours.
Psychotherapy training
Postgraduate Diploma in Integrative Psychotherapy.
Current study
MA Integrative Psychotherapy ongoing.
Professional status
Registered Member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (MBACP), BACP Register number 422653. I work in accordance with the BACP Ethical Framework, am professionally insured and receive regular clinical supervision.
Away from therapy
I draw and paint, mostly buildings, and especially older industrial ones with a bit of history and character. I chose watercolour partly because it doesn't let me control everything. It has made me a little better at allowing things to be imperfect.
Drawing also makes me stop and look properly at places I might otherwise pass every day, and sometimes see something familiar differently. The drawings you see around this website are mine.
I enjoy fermenting things too. Once the process has started, there is only so much control you have over it, which I like, and it’s good for my gut.
I read a lot, particularly speculative fiction, live with two dogs, and have a weakness for reality television. I’m also trying, with intermittent success, to meditate and do yoga.
A first conversation
If you would like to see whether working together might make sense, the first step is a free telephone conversation of up to 20 minutes. You can tell me a little about what brings you here, ask any questions, and get a sense of whether you would like to continue.