I am a qualified and experienced counsellor who chooses to specialise in working with trauma, especially complex trauma caused by childhood neglect and abuse, but also recent trauma caused by violent assault, sexual assault, or crimes like home invasion, robbery and scams. But my work always involves many threads, because every human being is complex. Nobody comes with just one problem, no-one can be described by just one diagnosis or experience - so I’m also skilled and interested in working with addiction, grief and loss, family relationships, anxiety and depression, disability, medical conditions and illness.
My life experience allows me to sit with people with patience and calm in the darkest corners of the human experience, and walk with them to visit the darkest places, but always holding a candle of hope. It’s my job to hold hope for people when they can’t hold it for themselves.
Whether or not you have experienced trauma, I will first be interested in getting to know you as a human, and then I will select from and sensitively apply what might be helpful to you and fit your particular situation and needs from a range of well-respected therapeutic interventions. This is usually a combination of Parts work (Trauma Informed Stabilisation Therapy and Internal Family Systems therapy), Narrative Therapy, and somatic (body based) therapy techniques. I may also use elements of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Solution Focused Therapy and Motivational Interviewing.
My work is 'strengths-based' - which means whoever you are and whatever you've been through, I know that you have skills, knowledge, and inner resources to draw on. I take a ‘bio-psycho-social’ perspective - that means your body, brain, mind and relationships all matter, and I recognise and nurture all the connections and dimensions in your life that lie outside of the therapy room.
I use a collaborative approach - that means you get to understand and make choices about how therapy works for you. I’m not an expert about you - I'll never know as much about you as you do yourself - but I bring experience and expertise around what helps, and how to hold conversations that offer those helpful ideas safely enough for you to pick and choose what is right for you.
My work is inspired by and draws on ideas from renowned trauma experts including Judith Herman, Babette Rothschild, Janina Fisher, Bessel Van Der Kolk, Pat Ogden, Gabor Mate, Stephen Porges and Peter Levine, as well as eclectic influences ranging from Thich Nhat Hanh to Victor Frankl. It's also grounded in practical 12-step wisdom.
Learning about trauma has been eye-opening for me! My greatest revelation is that recovery and wellbeing need both of the brain hemispheres, all the different levels of the brain, the heart and mind, and the brain and body, all to work together and find balance. My work is guided by a sharp and questing mind, but powered by a warm, open heart. I will gently invite all the levels of your brain and mind as well as your body into the therapy room, as and when it feels safe and possible for you. I trust your knowledge of what is right for you, when, and I will work to strengthen your trust in yourself, if needed.
I believe it is possible to repair and recover from past experiences, even very stressful and traumatic ones. I believe it’s never too late for healing. I believe that no matter what you’ve been through, no-one is completely or permanently ‘broken’. I believe ‘depression’, ‘anxiety’ and ‘PTSD’ are experiences that can change and shift, not life sentences. I believe that within every one of us is a ‘life force’ that wants us to thrive and heal, if we can get in touch with it, and energies around us that can also help us. My work includes helping people to connect with their own personal inner and outer life forces.
If this resonates with you, please feel free to get in touch for a free introductory chat
There's no magic wand for healing, no package someone can hand you. It has to grow organically, from within.
How I work
Trauma disconnects. It cuts us
off from ourselves, from our
bodies, our emotions, our hopes
and dreams. And from others.
Healing happens through connection.
Connection is healing.
Research repeatedly shows that your connection with your therapist will be the most important factor in how well your therapy works.
My personality and life experiences have taught me to quickly but carefully build warm, strong connections with people. From the first moment you come in contact with me, I seek to make the connection as comfortable and safe as possible for you. This is the foundation for everything else we do together.
