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I am available on Monday and Tuesday from 8.30 -18.00 and Wednesday from 8.30- 15.00 for face to face appointments at the listed postcode.

I am also available on those days / times for online appointments.

I am available for online appointments only on Thursday 8.30 -18.00 and on Fridays from 8.30 - 15.00

I'm straight talking, down to earth and non pathologizing. I aim to relate to and treat you as a whole person who encounters difficulties and concerns, rather than diagnosing what is ''wrong'' with you or taking the view that you are inherently ''flawed'' or ''disordered''.  

So often our feelings and perceptions are meaningful, understandable, totally reasonable responses to circumstance. Sometimes we feel vulnerable and at a low ebb and don't know why. It would be unusual and strange if we did not feel confusion and or distress when faced with many life events, scenarios, demands and fluctuations in personal energy and resources. Such responses are totally human, not ''mad'', ''weak'' or signs of ''failure''. 

Sudden, unexpected loss or major change may cause profound shock and de-stabilisation, leaving us seeking to ''make sense'' of life and our identity. 

Difficulties may stem from early familial relationships. It can be very useful, sometimes essential to explore such formative experiences and their impact upon our relationships with others over time. It can also be equally as important to just be in the present, to address what has arisen and is affecting us irrespective of the long-term past.

Males can feel reluctant to speak out or seek counselling in a contemporary culture in which frequently designates and denigrates their perspectives and experience as ''toxic''. I actively seek to offer them / you unbiased space.

We can all be hurt and hurt others, we all try our best with regards to the hand we have been dealt, what we have and know. Making sense of our thoughts and feelings, who we are, have been, may seek to be, is a task which faces most humans at some point, or for many of us, on a recurring basis throughout life.

Relationships can be challenging and exhausting as well as rewarding for all of us. Interpersonal difficulties and broken connection are at the heart of much anxiety and depression.  I aim to provide an environment and presence which counters this.

I offer Person Centred, Humanistic / Integrative counselling on a brief or long term basis.

I work with individual adult clients aged 18 +, and offer face to face, video / online and telephone counselling.

I have 24 years plus experience as a Counsellor - experience gained within the voluntary and charity sector initially, then in the longer term within the NHS / IAPT, Secondary Schools and Higher Education - in the latter case working with Staff as well as Student clients. 

Prior to this I had worked as a qualified Social Worker and had a wide variety of roles within the social care / social welfare / advisory sector (C.A.B. / Residential Care for Profoundly Physically and Learning Disabled Children and Young People / Residential Elder Care).  I also have some experience of working within local government (as a Temp Housing Officer and Park Ranger), Youth Hostels and various heritage roles.

I work with my heart as well as head, my guts as well as my brain. I aim to work with you collaboratively, with warmth and compassion toward and interest in what makes you the unique individual you are; to help you grow in self-understanding, personal acceptance, health and wellbeing. 

I welcome helping people going through identity crises, who are questioning themselves and life and who may be feeling lost and directionless. 

I have a particular interest in Spiritual / Faith / Religious issues / journeys; workplace / employment issues and related stress and as previously mentioned; working with males. I understand the experience of feeling ''out of sync'' with the times and contemporary culture, the speed of social, moral and technological change and the toll adjustment on so many levels can take.  However these are by no means exclusive and my sole interests and all are welcome irrespective  of gender, faith or belief.

I am open to concessionary rates for online appointments.

It's understandable to feel quite nervous or reluctant with regards to contacting a Counsellor, someone you have never met before with whom you are seeking to share private, very important thoughts and feelings and it's common for people to feel quite vulnerable and wary in such circumstances. 

I understand this and have often had similar feelings myself in the past. Please know that you are contacting a fellow human being who ''gets it'' and aims to make you feel as comfortable and welcome as possible. There is no ''test'' to pass to engage in Counselling, come as you are.

If you would like to talk before deciding whether you would like to work with me, I can offer a free introductory half hour chat via telephone / or Zoom.

I do not expect clients to complete a formal assessment in the first session, the session itself allows us to talk through what you feel is most relevant to you and identify the focus of our time together (this can change over time / as sessions evolve).