I am a qualified, registered and accredited counsellor, offering one-to-one counselling for individual adults on a long, medium or short-term basis.

You might be looking for a counsellor because of a specific issue or a general sense of something not being quite right. I provide an accepting and supportive space for you to explore experiences, thoughts, feelings and memories that may be getting in the way of you feeling grounded, at ease with yourself and others, or fully alive.

If you are interested in exploring what it might be like to work with me as your counsellor, please do get in touch by using the email address below. We can arrange an initial session to get to know each other and find out whether the support I offer would be useful to you.

I am a humanistic counsellor. I am predominantly Person-Centred in my approach, although I have also trained in Gestalt and Transactional Analysis counselling and may integrate elements of these approaches in my work.

This means I believe we all have a tendency to move towards what we need in life, so long as the conditions (including care and love) around us are, and have been, supportive and accepting of our needs. Many of us learn, sometimes very early on in life, that some of our real needs and feelings are not acceptable to others, and therefore we find it difficult to accept them ourselves. This can result in anxiety, depression, shame, emotional numbness, self-hatred and other forms of distress, as we adapt ourselves and ignore our true needs.

In a healing, therapeutic relationship with an empathic counsellor, we can experience these needs and feelings as being truly accepted and prized by another human being, and therefore we become able to better accept them in ourselves. When we accept our needs (for example, for love, respect, rest, excitement, relationships, expression of anger, release of tears, etc.), we become better able to meet them and to lead a more authentic and fulfilling life.

If you come to counselling with me, you will be setting the pace of the work. We will work with whatever you want to bring and at whatever pace and depth you choose. I will facilitate the work, but I will not act as an expert pretending that I know best. You are the expert in your own experience and I will support you, by being fully present and attuned to your process, to feel more able to trust yourself. If you are interested, we can also use creative exercises (e.g. art materials, art postcards, image work, movement work) to help you explore your feelings further, but if you'd prefer to stick to talking, that is just fine too.

The relationship and connection with your counsellor is key to this process, therefore, I work to create a space where you feel you can trust me to support you when you may be feeling at your most vulnerable or distressed.

I am an accredited member of the British Association for Counsellors and Psychotherapists (BACP) and abide by their ethical framework. "Accredited" status with the BACP is in addition to being "registered". Counsellors who are "BACP accredited" have passed a rigorous assessment and have a certain level of post-qualification experience. "BACP registered" means that the counsellor is qualified.

My counselling training lasted for five years and I hold a BSc in Reflective Therapeutic Practice (1st class) with a Diploma in Humanistic Counselling from Metanoia Institute, Ealing, London (BSc awarded by Middlesex University), which is a BACP accredited training course (2016). I also hold a Certificate in Integrative Humanistic Counselling from CPPD Counselling School, Hornsey, London (2013), an Introduction to Counselling Skills from Birkbeck, University of London (2012) and a Certificate in Group Facilitation from CityLit.

I have received specialist training and supervision in bereavement counselling at St Joseph’s Hospice, Hackney, London, where I have practised as a bereavement counsellor.

I attend regular Continuing Professional Development (CPD) workshops to keep my skills and knowledge up-to-date. I am a tutor and lecturer for the BSc in Person-Centred Pluralistic Counselling at Metanoia Institute, London.

I have also previously seen clients at the Metanoia Counselling and Psychotherapy Service (MCPS) in Ealing, London.

I am a member of Metanoia Institute.

I meet regularly with a clinical supervisor to review and support my work.

I have experience of working with clients from a range of ages, sexualities, backgrounds and cultures and have been moved and privileged to be part of each of their journeys, through the tears, the laughter, the setbacks and the (often life changing) personal growth.
 

I have worked with clients who have experienced the following issues:

• anxiety and panic; 
• bereavement and grief; 
• bullying;  
• childhood trauma; 
• cultural identity; 
• depression and low mood; 
• difficulty relating to others; 
• emotional impact of physical health conditions; 
• family disputes 
• gender or relationship identity and diversity;
• guilt; 
• lack of direction; 
• lack of feelings; 
• loneliness; 
• loss (in its many manifestations); 
• low energy; 
• low self-esteem; 
• neurodivergence;
• obsessive compulsive disorder; 
• performance anxiety; 
• relationship challenges and breakdown (with individuals, not couples); 
• self-hatred; 
• sense of something not being right; 
• sex and intimacy; 
• sexual orientation (including lesbian, gay, bisexual and queer issues and coming out); 
• shame; 
• social anxiety; 
• stress and burnout; 
• workplace conflict.

My therapy room is located close to Dalston Junction and Haggerston overground stations, and many bus routes (including the 30, 38, 67, 76, 149, 243) with easy access to Stoke Newington, De Beauvoir Town, London Fields, Hoxton, Stamford Hill, Canonbury, Highbury and Islington, Hackney, Homerton, Stratford and the City.

I regret that this therapy room is not wheelchair accessible, as it is located on the third floor of a building with no lifts.