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I am an Integrative Counsellor experienced in working with adult clients facing a wide range of life challenges and experiences. I offer one-to-one and couples counselling sessions online and at my clinic based in Wokingham, Berkshire.

I believe that our psychological wellbeing is ever changing as we experience and respond to different life contexts and changing relationships in our families, work-life and social life. Sometimes life events stop us in our tracks. Sometimes we have a sense of something not being quite right in ourselves or feel tensions in our relationships. Sometimes we feel we’re not functioning in the world in the ways we’d like. We might feel angry, afraid, depressed, anxious, overwhelmed, or disconnected from ourselves and others. I offer counselling to support you to work through these times.

How I Work as a Counsellor

As an Integrative Counsellor, I work from a relational perspective drawing on humanistic and psychodynamic therapeutic traditions. For you this means:

• Relational - I offer a safe confidential space where we can work together with the issues you bring to counselling. Forming a strong alliance allows us to work together as adults in a relationship whilst supporting your developing needs.
• Humanistic - I listen with respect and empathy, attempting to understand as closely as possible your experience of being in the world. We work together with a focus on what and how you would like to be different.
• Psychodynamic - I am curious about your experiences beyond the here and now. Exploring patterns of thoughts, feelings, behaviour and sensation experienced across time and in different contexts can help us make sense of the issues you bring.
• Integrative - My in-depth training in diverse well-researched aspects of counselling psychology allows me to draw on resources and approaches well fitted to your goals for counselling.

How to Begin Working with Me

Sometimes it might be difficult to say exactly what feels wrong: and that’s fine. An initial session gives us the chance to explore your situation and plan how we could work together. We will agree on a regular weekly meeting time and proposed timescale for our work. Sometimes this work will be relatively contained over an agreed number of sessions. Sometimes we’ll set a more open-ended timescale. It depends on what you’d like to explore: and we will review how the work is going on a regular basis.

The Quality of my Work

I attend weekly personal therapy myself with a Registered Psychotherapist and at least fortnightly supervision with a Registered Counselling Psychologist to support me in providing safe, ethical, quality professional clinical practice. I follow the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy’s Ethical Framework and have Enhanced Clearance from the Disclosure and Barring Service.

Professional Memberships

I am a member of a number of professional bodies:

• British Psychological Society: Graduate Member – MBPsS
• British Psychological Society: Member of Counselling Psychology Division
• British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy: Registered Member – MBACP
• British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy: Member of Private Practice, Workplace and Coaching Divisions
• UK Council for Psychotherapy: Trainee Member

My Continuing Professional Development

In addition to professional qualifications, I regularly attend short courses to support develop my professional practice. These include:

•  Couples Therapy
•  Attachment based Therapy
• Working with Trauma
•  Body Work
• Clinical Assessment
• Making the Most of Clinical Supervision
• The Role of Psychotherapy in Gender Dysphoria: Working with Gender Identity
• Addiction: A Relational Issue
• Self-Care for Psychotherapists
• Using Mindfulness to Tackle Rumination and Worry
• Psychodynamic Perspectives on Career Development
• An Introduction to Mental Health First Aid in the Workplace
• Dysphagia and Airway Obstruction in Mental Health

My Experience as a Counsellor

In addition to working in private practice I have extensive experience working with clients in a range of settings:

• NHS IAPT Time Limited Counselling within a GP surgery
• Long Term Counselling within Community based Charity run Counselling Services
• Short Term Counselling within a University Student Wellbeing Service
• Activity Coordination for in-patients within an NHS Mental Health Hospital