People come to therapy for many different reasons. Sometimes there is a clear problem: a relationship ending, anxiety that has become difficult to manage, a sexual difficulty, bereavement, or a period of depression. At other times the problem is harder to name: a sense of being stuck, disconnected, or caught in patterns that keep repeating.
My work is not based on fitting people into fixed categories. I am interested in what is happening in your own life, how you have come to be where you are, and what might become possible if we understand things differently.
Feeling stuck
You may know that something in your life needs to change without knowing how to change it.
This can take the form of anxiety, low mood, persistent self-criticism, difficulty making decisions, loss of confidence, or a sense that life has narrowed in ways you did not intend.
Therapy can help us understand what keeps these patterns in place, rather than simply trying to push them away.
Relationships
Relationships often bring us into contact with patterns that are difficult to see clearly from inside them.
I work with people experiencing repeated difficulties in relationships, problems with closeness or trust, separation and divorce, family conflict, or a sense of becoming trapped in roles they no longer want to occupy.
The aim is not to identify who is to blame, but to understand what is happening between people and what choices may still be available.
Sex and sexuality
Sexual difficulties are often experienced privately and can carry a great deal of shame, anxiety or confusion.
I work with issues including changes in desire, difficulties with arousal or orgasm, sexual pain, performance anxiety, sexual shame, problems with intimacy, and difficulties talking about sex within relationships.
My approach is LGBTQI+ affirming, kink-aware and consensual non-monogamy (CNM) aware.
I hold a Professional Certificate in Psychosexual Therapy from the Contemporary Institute for Clinical Sexology.
Loss, change and identity
Periods of change can unsettle assumptions we have held about ourselves for many years.
This may follow bereavement, ageing, migration, retirement, changes in work or creative life, becoming a parent, the end of a relationship, or another significant transition.
At such times, questions about identity, meaning and direction can become much more pressing. Therapy can provide a place to think about these questions without rushing to resolve them.
How I work
My approach is existential-analytic and relational.
This means that I pay attention not only to symptoms, but to the wider shape of your life: your history, relationships, habits, fears, values, and the ways you have learned to understand yourself.
I am interested in what happens between us in the room as well as what you tell me about life outside it. Therapy is not about receiving instructions or being told what you should do. It is a process of understanding your experience more fully so that you have greater freedom in how you respond to it.
You do not need to arrive with a clear explanation of what is wrong or a fixed goal for therapy. We can begin with what is most present for you now.
Getting started
I offer a free 20-minute initial consultation so that you can tell me a little about what has brought you to therapy, ask any questions you have, and get a sense of whether working together might be useful.