Therapy
How Therapy Works
Therapy offers a space to pause and look more closely at the patterns, experiences and pressures that shape how we live. Many people who come to therapy have spent years coping, managing and functioning well on the outside. They may be used to carrying significant responsibility in their personal or professional lives, supporting others, or continuing to push forward even when things feel difficult.
Over time, the strategies that once helped us cope can begin to create distance from our own needs, emotions and limits. Therapy provides the opportunity to slow down and explore these patterns with curiosity and care.
This might include:
• understanding the impact of earlier experiences
• exploring patterns in relationships
• recognising the pressures we place on ourselves
• learning to identify and express our own needs
• developing greater self-compassion and understanding
Therapy is not about being told what to do. Instead, it offers a reflective space where we can begin to understand ourselves more clearly and consider different ways of relating to ourselves and others.
You can read more about my approach and experience here:
My Approach
I work in an integrative and relational way, drawing on different psychological approaches depending on what feels most helpful for you.
My initial therapeutic training was in integrative psychotherapy, which places particular importance on the therapeutic relationship and the ways earlier experiences can shape how we relate to ourselves and others. Alongside this, I later completed postgraduate training in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy with a specialiest focus on complex trauma and relational difficulties. This training informs my understanding of patterns such as beliefs, coping strategies and survival responses.
In practice, therapy is shaped around you as an individual rather than following a single fixed approach. The aim is to understand how your particular patterns developed and how they may be affecting your life now. I approach therapy from a trauma-informed and strengths based perspective. Many of the ways people cope with distress are understandable responses to difficult experiences. Part of the work often involves developing a clearer understanding of these responses and learning to relate to ourselves with greater compassion rather than criticism.
Areas I Often Work With
People come to therapy for many different reasons. Some are seeking support with a specific difficulty, while others want space to reflect more deeply on patterns in their lives.
A significant part of my professional work has involved specialist roles supporting people affected by sexual abuse and domestic abuse, including many years working within dedicated services.
For many people the impact of abuse does not simply disappear with time. Experiences of abuse can shape beliefs about ourselves, influence how safe we feel in relationships and affect the ways we cope with distress.
Many of the people I work with appear to be coping well on the outside, while finding things much more difficult beneath the surface.
Clients do not need to come to therapy specifically to talk about abuse. Often these experiences form part of a wider story about relationships, identity, coping and self-belief, and therapy can focus on whatever feels most important for you.
Sessions
Therapy sessions last 50 minutes.
Sessions are usually arranged weekly or fortnightly, although the frequency can be discussed depending on what feels most appropriate for you.
Meeting regularly helps create continuity and allows the therapeutic work to develop in a contained and supportive way. For many people, having a consistent space set aside for reflection can become an important way of prioritising themselves.
For those who have already completed a course of therapy, it may be possible to arrange less frequent or occasional sessions where appropriate.
Sessions are offered online.
Fees
The fee for a 50-minute session is £130.
Payment is made by bank transfer prior to each session (payment details will be provided when sessions are arranged).
Initial Conversation
I offer a free 20-minute telephone or video conversation.
This provides an opportunity for us to briefly discuss what has led you to consider therapy and for you to get a sense of how I work. It is also a chance for you to ask any questions you may have before deciding whether you would like to arrange a first session.
If we decide to work together, we will arrange a regular appointment time and I will send you further information about the practical arrangements for therapy.
Taking the Next Step
If you would like to arrange an initial conversation, you are welcome to get in touch.