What to expect
We usually meet weekly for 50 minutes. I offer a calm, steady and psychologically attentive space. I aim to be honest and thoughtful in my reflections, rather than simply reassuring, so that we can begin to make sense of what is happening together.
My approach is psychodynamic. This means we pay close attention to how your past — often outside of everyday awareness — may be shaping your present life, relationships, and sense of self.
I listen not only to what is said, but to what may be harder to put into words.
Slips of the tongue, recurring themes, strong reactions, or even what feels difficult to speak about can offer important clues. Together, we investigate patterns that may once have protected you but now feel limiting.
How you feel in the moment matters. I encourage you to come as you are, bringing whatever thoughts and emotions arise — including how you feel towards me. Something meaningful can emerge in the relationship between us, and this is often where lasting change begins.
Counselling is a collaborative process. You lead with your experience and I bring careful attention, curiosity, and respect. Over time, you develop a clearer and more integrated understanding of yourself, which often reduces shame and softens the sense that something is wrong.
Experience and Background
I am a qualified psychodynamic counsellor, trained over four years with Gloucestershire Counselling Services (accredited by the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy). I am a registered member of the BACP and work within their Ethical Framework. I am also DBS-checked.
Before training as a counsellor, I completed a BSc in Nutrition Counselling. This can be helpful if you are struggling with food or body-related concerns and would like to understand them in a deeper, relational context.
Alongside my professional training, I bring lived experience of complex relational and social dynamics. This has given me a particular sensitivity to shame, survival strategies, boundaries, identity, and the ways people adapt in order to belong. Many of the people I work with are thoughtful, capable individuals who have spent years accommodating others while losing touch with parts of themselves.
I work with adults experiencing anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, anger, relational difficulties, or questions around identity and neurodivergence. You may be navigating a life transition — leaving home, becoming a parent, retirement — or sensing that something in your life no longer fits.
Whatever brings you here, I offer a space that is steady, inclusive, and non-judgemental. I am LGBTQ+ affirmative and committed to working with openness and care.
FAQs
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In our sessions, we’ll talk about what’s going on in your life right now, but also explore how past experiences—especially early ones—might still be influencing how you think, feel, and relate to others today. It’s a space to reflect and make connections that might not be obvious at first. You don’t need to come with a plan—just bring whatever’s on your mind.
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It really depends. Some people start to feel relief quite early on, just from having a safe space to talk. But because psychodynamic therapy looks at deeper patterns that have often been around for a long time, meaningful change can take time. That said, we’ll check in about how it’s going and make sure it still feels useful for you. Therapy isn’t a straight line—but the process itself often becomes part of what helps.
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Not in a directive way, no. My role isn’t to give advice or offer solutions, but to help you explore what’s going on beneath the surface—feelings, thoughts, or patterns you might not be fully aware of. This can help you to see choices and understand yourself more clearly. I’m here to support you in making your own decisions, from a place of greater self-understanding and resilience.
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The word psychodynamic comes from two Greek roots: psyche, meaning soul or mind, and dynamis, meaning force or power. Together, they refer to the inner emotional forces—often unconscious—that shape how we think, feel, behave, and relate to others.
Psychodynamic counselling is based on the idea that our early life has a lasting influence on who we become. While we’re each born with certain traits and tendencies, these are shaped by how we’re cared for, what we’re taught, what we’re discouraged from expressing, and the emotional environment of our family and surroundings.
These early patterns can persist throughout our lives—sometimes without awareness. Maybe you find yourself in the same kind of painful relationship again and again? Or certain situations trigger a level of distress or anger that feels disproportionate or confusing? Transitions—like leaving home, starting a family, or experiencing loss—can stir up old, unresolved feelings.
Some people come to counselling with clear memories of past events, more recent traumatic experiences or times when they were neglected. Others simply feel stuck, anxious, or unsure of themselves, without knowing why. Psychodynamic counselling offers a space to gently explore what’s behind those feelings.
Together, we look at the strategies you’ve developed to cope—strategies that may have helped once but might now be holding you back. In a professionally contained and safe counselling relationship you can begin to understand your patterns, feel more grounded in who you are, and make choices that reflect your current needs.
The psychodynamic model is the foundation for modern talk therapy and it’s principles underlie it’s effectiveness. If you are keen to read more on the efficacy of psychodynamic approach an excellent place to start is ‘The efficacy of Psychodynamic Psychotherapy’ (Schedler, 2010).