“The act of revealing oneself fully to another and still being accepted may be the major vehicle of therapeutic help”

If you need help or advice urgently please seek immediate help via 999 or your GP.

The following links may also help you with some advice and immediate support.

Mental health services - NHS

Getting help in a mental health crisis - Mind

How Samaritans can help you

Get support - Cruse Bereavement Support

LGBTQIA+ people's mental health - Mental Health UK

Terms & Conditions Of Addiction Helpline - Addiction Helpline

The UK's Eating Disorder Charity - Beat

I am based in the borough of Bexley and Face to Face sessions are held within the Blackfen Community Library (on Blackfen Parade), at Sidcup Space (which is just off Sidcup High Street on Hatherley Road) and at Avenues Wellbeing Step by Step (on the Broadway in Bexleyheath).

I am able to offer Online sessions for anyone living within the UK

Speaking to friends and family and ultilising your own support systems is very healthy and can be beneficial and supportive.

However there may at times be things that you would not necesarilly feel comfortable sharing or discussing openly with those that you are close to, for fear of being judged or of upsetting or worrying them.  Friends and family members have an emotional attachment to you and may struggle to see things objectively or may be faced with conflicts of loyalty and feel unable to keep what you have discussed confidential.

As a Counsellor and Psychotherapist I receive ongoing formal support through my own supervision and have also been trained to listen objectively and without judgement.

I hold a BSc Hons degree in Psychology and Counselling and an Advanced Diploma in Integrative Counselling.

I am an Accredited member of the National Counselling and Psychotherapy Society and a Registered member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy.  This means that I have met or exceeded their standards and expectations for training and have commited to undertake steps to ensure that my practice remains safe, of good quality and is up to date.  These steps include a commitment to undertaking monthly supervision with a more experienced Supervising Counsellor, a commitment to undertaking further training each year to deepen my knowledge and understanding and most importantly a commitment to follow their Code of Ethics.

Further details on this can be found on the organisations own websites.

I am qualified to provide 1:1 therapy for children, young people (aged 11yrs +), and Adults.

I have experience of supporting children, young people and adults with physical disabilities, learning disabilities or difficulties and/or who are neuro-diverse, such as ADHD and ASC

I do not currently offer Couples therapy or Family therapy.

I am able to offer therapy for a wide range of needs and concerns.  However if I feel that your area of need falls outside of my scope of practice, or that you might receive more specialist support via other means, I will advise you of this and can guide you towards identifying alternative avenues of support. 

Areas that I hold particular experience or knowledge of are:

- Disability and Learning difficulties

- Acquired disability/Chronic illness

- Baby Loss/Difficulties with conception

- Anxiety, Stress and feelings of overwhelm

- Low mood/Depression

- Trauma and its impact on the body and mind

There are various approaches to therapy and each have their own merits.  In general however research shows that therapy is more effective when clients are involved in choosing the mode of therapy or the approach that their Counsellor/Psychotherapist uses.

In our initial session I will ask you some questions to help guide us towards what might work best for you.  This will include exploring preferences around things such as:

- Whether you would like a structured, goal orientated approach or prefer to freely talk and see where the work goes

- Whether you would like for me to take the lead in our sessions or be led by you and what you want to focus on each session

- Whether you would like 'homework' and strategies to implement inbetween our sessions

- To what extent you are comfortable exploring your emotions and what might be driving them

- To what extent you are comfortable exploring your past and its potential impact on the person you are today

- How much you are open to gentle challenge if I feel that your behaviour or thoughts are impacting negatively on you

Information discussed in the course of us working together is treated with respect and is confidential in nature.

I will not publicise the content of your exchanges or share them with a third party unless agreed with you beforehand. 

A requirement of registration with the National Counselling Society and the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy is that counsellors attend supervision to discuss client work on a monthly basis. This is to monitor my work and promote best practice. Any client material discussed will be anonymised and my supervisor is also bound by the same Code of Ethics as I am.

There are some exceptions however where I may have to break confidentiality. These are listed below:

· If I am concerned for your safety or the safety of those around you. Wherever possible, I would discuss this with you beforehand.

· There are legal limits to confidentiality around disclosure of committing or intent to commit criminal offences, such as prevention of terrorism, drug trafficking acts and child protection acts.

· If I am summoned by a Court of Law, I may need to answer questions about you, as my client.

If you have any concerns or questions arond this, we can discuss within our therapy sessions.

Ahead of your initial session I will send you a copy of the Working Agreement, which details some of the parameters around the way we will work together.  I will then go through this with you in the initial session, giving an opportunity for you to ask any questions you may have around it and also provide input on anything you would like to include.  

We will then use this session to explore your history, reasons for coming to therapy and approaches that might work well for you.  By the end of the first session you should feel that we have agreed a way of working that feels comfortable for you. .

The number of sessions needed very much depends on what it is you want to address and how much support you would like with it.  I work in a client led way and therefore we can have an open discussion around how many sessions might be needed or beneficial for the areas you want to address.  I will be honest with you around what you could realistically expect from short term vs long term therapy and can adapt the approaches used to fit potential timescales.

As a general rule, I would suggest trying to commit to 12 sessions.  However this is not a requirement of us working together.

In my experience, weekly sessions work best for developing our working relationship and with keeping up the momentum.

However, fortnightly sessions are also possible and indeed sometimes beneficial when trying and embedding new strategies.  In some instances we may start off meeting weekly and then agree to move to fortnightly sessions.

If you would like to stop therapy sessions at any point, then that is entirely possible.  You are not tied into completing a set number of sessions.

My preference would be that when you are thinking of stopping therapy you inform me and we have a final 'ending' session together to ensure that we end in a planned and safe manner. 

I prefer payment via bank transfer, though arrangements for either cash payments or payments via Paypal can also be considered.

I ask for payment 48hrs in advance of a session to secure your booking.  

If you cancel a session with more than 24hrs notice, your payment can be carried forward to your next session. However, if you cancel with less than 24hrs notice you will still be liable for that payment and the fee cannot be carried forward. 

When you come to therapy my main hope is that you come ready to work together and ideally with an open mind to explore your areas of concern and alternative ways of thinking.

I do have some expectations around behaviour.  It is possible that at times you may disagree with something I say, or may be angry about a situation that has either arisen within or outside of therapy.  In these instances, I expect our interactions to remain polite and respectful of eachother.

I am also unable to undertake therapy with someone that is under the influence of drugs or alcohol during the session.  If I suspect you to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol when you come to therapy I will stop the session and we will need to rearrange for an alternative time.

I have experience of supporting children, young people and adults with physical and learning disabilities or difficulties, or who are neuro-diverse such as those with ADHD or ASC.  

Please let me know at the time of enquiry if you have a disabiity or support need that you would like for me to make accomodations for.  I try to be flexible and want to make therapy accessible for all and therefore I will do what I can to accommodate your needs.

Some examples of accomodations I might be able to offer could be shorter sessions, ensuring the venue we meet at is wheelchair accessible/has level access, sending photos of the space we will be meeting in and more.