Personal Approach
My approach to counselling/psychotherapy is integrative - which means I draw on a range of theories and ideas to inform my interactions with clients. A lot depends on the issues a client presents, the type of relationship we co-create, and what a client wants to get out of their sessions - for example, whether they're looking for the opportunity to explore past experiences and relational issues, or whether they're seeking more practical interventions to help address specific current problems.
My early training focused primarily on the Person-Centred approach to counselling/psychotherapy, which remains at the heart of my practice. This approach identifies itself as non-directive and non-judgemental - with an empathic, accepting and honest relationship built up between counsellor and client held as being key to psychological change. However, experience and further study over the years have deepened my knowledge of other ways of working therapeutically. Psychodynamic theory, for example, focuses on our early relational experiences and how these may influence the way we currently feel and interact with others. Cognitive-Behavioural approaches such as CBT look at how particular patterns of thoughts, feelings and behaviours can be explored and changed, and Existential counselling/psychotherapy dwells on exploration of deeper questions of meaning and value in a person's life. I have completed training in Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT) and often utilise ideas from this approach to help clients develop self-understanding and self-compassion.
My work with clients from the humanitarian and international aid sectors, in particular, has informed my approach to working with trauma in therapy, as well as helping clients use quite practical means to build resilience and establish good work-life balance. I have undertaken basic EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing) therapy training and now use EMDR techniques with clients under appropriate supervision.
My Background
I was born and brought up in Portsmouth, UK, but have lived and worked in London since 2000. Travel is a great love of mine and I have visited and spent time in many different parts of the world over the years. This has heightened my awareness of cultural difference and my interest in working with people from a variety of backgrounds. In my work I hold in mind issues of intersectionality (the interconnected categories of difference individuals and groups hold, based on factors such as race, class, gender, sexuality and dis/ability) and the way these often influence privilege and positioning in society. For my clients, it is a firm commitment of mine to make sessions a space where these matters can be discussed safely, and where we can also reflect on how they might impact our relationship.
My approach to counselling/psychotherapy is integrative - which means I draw on a range of theories and ideas to inform my interactions with clients. A lot depends on the issues a client presents, the type of relationship we co-create, and what a client wants to get out of their sessions - for example, whether they're looking for the opportunity to explore past experiences and relational issues, or whether they're seeking more practical interventions to help address specific current problems.
My early training focused primarily on the Person-Centred approach to counselling/psychotherapy, which remains at the heart of my practice. This approach identifies itself as non-directive and non-judgemental - with an empathic, accepting and honest relationship built up between counsellor and client held as being key to psychological change. However, experience and further study over the years have deepened my knowledge of other ways of working therapeutically. Psychodynamic theory, for example, focuses on our early relational experiences and how these may influence the way we currently feel and interact with others. Cognitive-Behavioural approaches such as CBT look at how particular patterns of thoughts, feelings and behaviours can be explored and changed, and Existential counselling/psychotherapy dwells on exploration of deeper questions of meaning and value in a person's life. I have completed training in Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT) and often utilise ideas from this approach to help clients develop self-understanding and self-compassion.
My work with clients from the humanitarian and international aid sectors, in particular, has informed my approach to working with trauma in therapy, as well as helping clients use quite practical means to build resilience and establish good work-life balance. I have undertaken basic EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing) therapy training and now use EMDR techniques with clients under appropriate supervision.
My Background
I was born and brought up in Portsmouth, UK, but have lived and worked in London since 2000. Travel is a great love of mine and I have visited and spent time in many different parts of the world over the years. This has heightened my awareness of cultural difference and my interest in working with people from a variety of backgrounds. In my work I hold in mind issues of intersectionality (the interconnected categories of difference individuals and groups hold, based on factors such as race, class, gender, sexuality and dis/ability) and the way these often influence privilege and positioning in society. For my clients, it is a firm commitment of mine to make sessions a space where these matters can be discussed safely, and where we can also reflect on how they might impact our relationship.