Counselling centred around you.

Person-centred counselling

I work in a person-centred way. This means our sessions are centred around you, your experiences, your feelings and what you want to explore.

I won't tell you what you should do or make decisions for you. Instead, I offer a space where you can talk openly, without judgement, and begin to make sense of what is happening for you.

Sometimes that might involve exploring something happening in your life now. At other times, we may begin to recognise how experiences from your past are affecting the way you feel, think, relate to others or see yourself today.

Working in a trauma-focused way

I practise in a trauma-focused way and was trained to work in this way through Manchester Mind.

For me, this means being aware that what we see on the surface may only be part of someone's story.

Anxiety, depression, anger, shame, difficulties in relationships, behaviours or ways of coping can sometimes make more sense when we begin to understand what someone has experienced, rather than simply asking what is wrong with them.

Something doesn't have to look traumatic from the outside to have affected you deeply. Your experience of what happened matters.

Looking beyond labels and behaviour

Throughout my professional life, including my work with young people and young adults and my four years with Nacro, I have worked with people whose circumstances, behaviour or past choices could easily become the thing others used to define them.

I don't believe that is the whole person.

If you have offended in the past, are at risk of offending, have become caught in patterns or relationships you want to change, or simply feel that your past continues to follow you, counselling can offer somewhere to explore what has brought you to this point and what you want your future to look like.

My role isn't to judge your past or tell you how to live your life. It is to understand you, including the experiences that have shaped you, and work alongside you as you decide what moving forward means.

We start with you

You don't need to arrive knowing exactly what you want to talk about. You may have one particular issue, several things that seem connected, or simply a feeling that something isn't right.

We start wherever you are.