What is therapy?

I aim to provide a warm, supportive and non-judgemental space for my clients to talk through challenging issues in their lives. This sounds simple, but it is surprisingly powerful. We don’t have many opportunities just to talk, without worrying what the other person might think, or waiting for them to jump in with their own needs and opinions!

That’s the core of it. It’s easy to get confused with different terminology, like “therapy” versus “counselling”, not to mention the many specialised techniques and theoretical approaches on offer. It’s not important to understand these differences - there is good evidence that all types of talk therapy can alleviate mental distress and improve life satisfaction. More important is that your own therapist’s approach makes sense to you and keeps you engaged in the process.

For more details on my specific approach, click here.

About me 

I had a long career in academia, where I studied sciences and philosophy. I began retraining in 2016, and completed my Diploma in Therapeutic Counselling. I am a member of the BACP, one of the main professional bodies for counsellors in the UK. In my counselling practice, I aim to combine the warmth of humanistic therapy with the analytic strength of philosophy.

I believe that a counsellor should be comfortable with the diverse variety of human experience. In this, I have been well-served by my encounters with people from all backgrounds and walks of life, in both professional and social contexts. In a voluntary capacity, I have worked in academia and sex education, activism, and party/festival welfare, including drug harm reduction.  For more information on who I work with, click here.

Flexibility

I try to offer flexible session arrangements, suitable to both my own and my clients’ busy schedules. Many clients prefer to work intensively for short periods and then take a break, or work in prearranged “blocks”. I currently offer sessions both in person and online (via Zoom). For more information on session arrangements and fees, click here.

My clients

All of my clients are experiencing “problems in living”. They might have difficulties in their relationships with friends, family or romantic partners, or issues to do with sex and sexuality. They may be facing major life decisions, like career choices, or whether and when to start a family. They might have faced significant adversity, in the form of abandonment, traumatic experiences, abuse, or oppressive power structures. Or they may be confronting existential issues that sooner or later affect everyone: sickness, mortality, the search for meaning in life.

All these problems can manifest in various forms of psychological distress or self-defeating behaviour, including depression, anxiety, excessive drug or alcohol use, disordered eating, unstable relationships, and problems with anger management or emotional regulation. I treat these types of issues as symptoms of underlying problems, which can in time be addressed with mutual insight and compassion.

For more information on who I work with, click here

Where I work

My office is in Borough, South East London, near to London Bridge station. See my location and contact details here.