I am respectful, warm, compassionate, empathic, collaborative, flexible and creative.  I understand that we all share a common humanity; we can all find modern life challenging, experiencing distress, trauma or loss.  My commitment is to listen to you attentively and without judgement.  I operate an anti-discriminatory and anti-oppressive practice, welcoming enquires from all sectors of the community. 

Sometimes, what we most need is to feel heard, accepted, understood at our core, especially if that was not our early life experience.  If what you bring feels complex, then I will work in partnership with you to help you find deep inside yourself what you most need going forwards.  This means that while I will listen attentively to what you say, I may also contribute from my knowledge and expertise.   

 The way I do this is through creativity and flexibility.   My five-year integrative training means that I am highly skilled in tailoring my approach to suit you.   This may be something we discuss at the beginning or it may emerge over time.   The combination of approaches I use will be unique to you.   In Integrative Relational Psychotherapy I may draw upon many established ideas from the psychodynamic or psychoanalytic tradition, from more cutting-edge humanistic or existential philosophies as well as a breadth of trauma theory, neuroscience, somatic (body) psychotherapy and IFS, (Internal Family Systems).   Crucially, if desired, I am able to combine Integrative Relational Psychotherapy with EMDR and/or Music Psychotherapy – a potentially rich, personalised,  transformational process.  

Theorists which inform my thinking include:  Kohut, Stern, Freud, Jung, Bowlby, Ainsworth, Jessica Benjamin, Bromberg, Fonagy, DeYoung, Donna Orange, Judith Herman, McGilchrist, Pat Ogdon, Porges, Carl Rogers, Schore, Siegel, Stolorow, Winnicot, Tolpin, Van der Kolk, Dick Schwarz.  

I specialise in working with people struggling with low moods, anxiety, depression and trauma.   This may be due to issues in childhood, or more recent events.   You may feel you know what is troubling, you, have some sort of inkling, or no idea.  Things may have been bubbling up for a while, or perhaps something has hit you from left field.  Perhaps you see yourself as successful in life to an extent; or it may be that so far, nothing has felt like it has worked.  You are welcome to discuss this confidentially with me before we agree to meet.

In short, you may be experiencing one or more of the following:

If you would like to discuss in confidence in relation to something you are experiencing right now, please feel free to get in touch.

Research shows that good therapy is always about good therapeutic relationships, creating conditions which literally re-wire the brain.   This is enhanced by EMDR, which as evidence shows, reduces the effects of trauma; symptoms becoming memories, the past remaining in the past, creating space for the present and a new future.  How this ‘new you’ unfolds will be unique to you.  Here, I find the well-used term ‘post traumatic growth’ helpful, a message of hope and change.   You may experience new feelings of peace, calm, contentment or confidence, or approach life with greater clarity, purpose, meaning or empowerment.  In short, EMDR-informed psychotherapy aims to give you a more holistic and compassionate sense of yourself and others.    This in my experience  is enhanced by the aesthetic power of music, language of our right-brained wisdom.    

   As a responsible and ethical practitioner, I abide by the codes of conduct set out by the United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP) which is in turn accredited by the Professional Standards Authority. To meet the UKCP’s exacting practice standards, I have regular supervision with a more senior practitioner. I believe it is important to be clear about working arrangements from the very beginning. I always ask for payment for initial exploratory sessions upfront. Thereafter, we can establish a mutually-agreeable system for payment.   My fee for each 50-minute session is £70.   I take regular breaks and offer up to 3 cancellations without payment, but do charge for sessions you cancel if you give less than five days’ notice.