Counselling provides the opportunity to talk about things that are of concern, in confidence, with a qualified Counsellor. What is spoken about will depend on the individual, but common themes are stress, relationships, change, loss and distressing, traumatic events. My aim is to help you make sense of life experiences or issues through verbal communication.

I am a qualified counsellor and a member of the British Association of Counsellors and Psychotherapists. I am bound by its code of ethics and practice subject to its complaint procedure. I am trained to listen without judging and to help individuals sort out their thoughts and feelings about whatever is concerning them.

I am committed to providing a safe, therapeutic environment for my clients, and what we discuss during your counselling session is confidential.

I am person-centred trained but use an integrated approach depending on the individual needs of each client.

These can include anxiety 

• depression
• stress
• bereavement
• relationship issues
• self-harm
• abuse
• trauma
• gender

All information and notes about the counselling work undertaken is kept in a secure record keeping system, in line with current data protection regulations, which can only be accessed by myself.

Adults
Sessions will be 50-60 minutes weekly (unless otherwise agreed). The fee for the session is £40; this will be paid at the end of each session. We will meet on a session by session basis. If you wish to cease the counselling, you may do so at any time but I do ask that we discuss this and have at least one session in which we can take time and space to review our work and have a healthy ending.

I require a minimum of 48 hours notice of cancellation or rescheduling of a session otherwise you will be charged.

I will not work with a client if they are under the influence of alcohol or other mind-altering substances.

My aim is to help your child make sense of life experiences or issues through talking or through creative play or art. Playing and art are natural ways of communicating and children can explore feelings and issues that they find difficult to express in other ways. What is spoken about will depend on the individual, but common themes are stress, change, loss and distressing, traumatic events.

The goal of the sessions are for your child to be more able to cope with how they are feeling, help them develop insight, emotional intelligence and above all confidence. I believe that through these sessions it will give your child an opportunity to build a relationship with myself, which will help promote positive change in them and enable them to help themselves.

I will communicate with you frequently to reassess the progress of your child. If at any point I feel that your child would benefit from other forms of help, I will not hesitate to let you know. Few of us are able to work well when we are stressed or unhappy. The impact of distressing or difficult situations can be felt even more acutely by children and young people than by adults. My experience is that young people find counselling useful in the same way as adults. My experience is that if young people are able to receive emotional support from a qualified professional they will have greater opportunity to fulfil their potential moving forward. Counselling may be for a few sessions or longer term, each session lasting no more than 45 minutes.

Just because your child is accessing counselling does not mean that you have failed as a parent/ guardian. We all experience occasions when it feels too hard to speak to those closest to us about things which are bothering us. Often this can be because we don’t want to worry those we love most, or because we want help thinking things through with someone unbiased. I will not be judging you or your child, but looking to help them find their way through whatever is troubling to them.

An essential feature of counselling is that the information disclosed is treated confidentially. It enables the young person to open up and share feelings without fear or blame or reprisals. It is also a time when it is acceptable to talk about concerns without fear of them being discussed elsewhere. This includes not discussing the work with parents, unless the young person requests or gives consent for this. I acknowledge that this isn’t an easy situation for parents, and it is quite natural for you to feel anxious about what may be said in the sessions, but ensuring the confidentiality of the work is crucial for establishing trust so that the young person feels confident to speak openly and freely about what is concerning them. A young person’s right to privacy and confidentiality is legally established in the Human Rights Act 1998, article 8

Children & Young People
Sessions will be up to 45 minutes weekly (unless otherwise agreed). The fee for the session is £40; this will be paid at the end of each session. We will meet on a session by session basis. If you wish to cease the counselling, you may do so at any time but I do ask that at least one session after this be deemed important and necessary in order to have a proper ending. I require a minimum of 48 hours notice of cancellation or rescheduling of a session otherwise you will be charged.