My approach to Counselling is Humanistic and Integrative. This means I work with different therapeutic approaches to suit you. The relationship is core to the counselling relationship.

Counselling and psychotherapy are umbrella terms that cover a range of talking therapies. There is short-term and long-term work. This will depend on the issue that is brought to counselling and the depth and complexities of the issue you want to resolve. It might be that a few sessions are enough for some people. Or, it might be something from the past that might need long-term work. We will explore this together and agree what is right for you and that will form part of our contract together.

Counselling is an opportunity to explore, discover and clarify ways of living more resourcefully and towards greater well-being.

People come to counselling for many different reasons. Many people come to counselling as they feel stuck in a situation from which they can see no way out. Counselling can help to develop a sense of direction to find your way forward.

There may be times in counselling when you might feel distressed and feel that counselling is not helping you. It is helpful to come back and talk about these difficulties and not suddenly end the counselling. This will give you the opportunity to understand and resolve your distress.

If there is an issue that arises that I am not able to deal with, we will discuss referring to another professional.

Confidentiality is important in counselling for you to feel safe to explore your issues. I have regular supervision for my work. If there is a need to share information, I will discuss this with you first.

You might come to counselling not sure what your issue is, but be aware something is not right for you. We will agree to set a number of sessions in our contract for you to explore what you bring. This will help you find what is going on for you and for you to decide what you want to work on in counselling.

I have worked with a few situations to do with loss from road traffic accidents, murder, suicide, unresolved grief issues, and multiple losses. I have also worked with generic issues not related to loss. This could be self-esteem issues, low mood or relationships issues.

If you find you do not want to continue after our initial meeting that is okay. It is important you find the right person to work with for you, as the counselling relationship is an important part of the counselling process.

I can see people in the evening and Saturdays, by arrangement, if this is more convenient.

As a professional counsellor I am a member of the British Association for Counselling and psychotherapy (www.bacp.co.uk). As such, I am bound by its code of ethics and practice, and subject to its complaints procedures. I have professional indemnity insurance and I have regular supervision.