About Me
Welcome!
I am an experienced BACP Accredited Counsellor / Therapist currently working face-to -face in my counselling room in Diss, South Norfolk and online or phone with clients UK wide including locally in Norwich, Attleborough, Thetford, Stowmarket, Bury St. Edmunds and Ipswich.
I offer long-term and short-term counselling and therapy to couples and individual adults aged 18 and above.
I offer individual clients a free initial 20 minute consultation via Zoom or phone on a no obligation basis.
I have experience of working with a wide range of therapy issues such as depression, bereavement, stress, anxiety, relationship difficulties, panic attacks, trauma, abuse, anger and many more.
I am passionate about my counselling work and offer you a confidential, safe, empathic therapeutic relationship where you can develop trust to work with what is causing you difficulty in living.
I am an Accredited member of the BACP (British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy) and adhere it's ethical code and supervision requirements as well as being subject to its complaints procedure. BACP complaints contact details can be found here.
BackGround
I was born and brought up in England and at 18 studied performance at a London Music College and then went on to get a Post Graduate Certificate in Education. At the age of 28, I moved to the Isle of Mull in Scotland where I lived for 25 years. There, I became immersed in the community, taught music in schools, brought up my daughter, ran my own B&B and Self Catering business and latterly became business manager of a social enterprise. In 2012 I moved off the island, completed my Post Graduate Counselling Diploma at Strathclyde University, Glasgow and have gained much experience working solely as a counsellor in various settings and private practice ever since. I moved back to England in 2020 and am delighted to be able to continue offering counselling in Diss and UK wide.
What type of counselling do I offer and how can it help you?
My approach is Person Centred which means that I will listen very carefully to you and respect and value your experience without judgement as a basis for all our work. I will be responsive to the way that you need to work and can provide a flexible integrated approach to suit you. Generally through talking about your experiences in the world, we will pay attention to how emotions occur in you, your thoughts and how they connect with how you feel in your body. Each person is individual but as we work together in this way there are general outcomes that most clients experience such as:
- Becoming more self-aware of how things happen inside you.
- Forming a clearer picture how present and past social expectations, systems and conditions emerge for you and becoming more aware of the choices you may have around how you relate to them.
- Being able to trust your internal experience of yourself and feel more confident to use that as a guide in relationships and the outer world.
- Getting to know yourself in new ways and have a new understanding of things that have been difficult for you.
- Feeling both more positive and less overwhelmed by negatives.
- Being able to make decisions that support you to feel more self empowered.
- Experiencing being accepted unconditionally.
What are the issues that people go to counselling with?
Sometimes, we don’t quite know what the issue is. It could be a sense of a number of rather undefined feelings and experiences.
It is OK to come to counselling without quite knowing. Alternatively, you might have a very clear idea of what is troubling you.
Below is a list of general issues that people come to counselling with. This list is not comprehensive.
Please feel free to contact me if you are unsure whether what you want to come with is suitable.
- Anxiety or fear
- Issues or difficulties from your past
- Panic attacks
- Stress related problems
- Relationship problems
- Affairs/betrayal
- Emotional or physical pain
- Depression/feelings of worthlessness
- Low self-esteem/lack of confidence
- Self-loathing
- Feeling lost or confused
- Midlife crisis
- Trauma
- Loss/bereavement
- Post-natal depression
- Termination
- Divorce/separation
- Infidelity
- Domestic violence
- Anger management
- Sexuality
- Emotional or physical abuse
- Guilt/shame
Couples / Relationship Counselling
In Couples/Relationship Counselling my role is either to help you develop and improve your relationship or to help you work towards a respectful separation. I will aim to hold the balance between you, to act as a mirror reflecting back what I observe, to raise awareness of the impact of your responses and behaviour on each other.
We will work together to:
- Notice and name unhelpful patterns and how these affect each of you.
- Develop a shared and empathic understanding of your own and your partner's needs.
- Develop more helpful communication and management of conflict
The first session will be an assessment session where we will both decide whether we are a good fit for the work.
Ongoing sessions will be weekly.
Please note, I do not offer couples counselling sessions online. We will meet in my counselling room in Diss, South Norfolk. in person only.
Please see the Get in Touch and Get Started sections for further booking information.
What to expect in your first session
First sessions are the first step in getting to know each other. We will go at the pace that works for you and there are no specific rules for this. Everyone is different and what you want to work with in the sessions will emerge through our conversations. Starting can be a bit like stepping into the unknown but I will support you all the way and you will soon find yourself feeling more at ease.
In the first session specifically, I will outline the contract and guidelines that I work within so that you can be clear on how things work.
For online sessions, we will have found a mutual time for the hour session and I will have sent you a Zoom link in an email. You will click on your Zoom link at the beginning of the session. (Please note online sessions are not available for couples).
For in person sessions you will come to my counselling room in Diss at the time you are booked in for.
How do I get started?
If you choose online counselling the free version of Zoom is suitable for our sessions. It is very simple to download this free version onto any device you may have via this link. (Please note that online sessions are not available for couples)
Face to face sessions will be in my counselling room in Diss.
Fee
Individual: £45 per 60 minute session.
Couples: £50 per 60 minute session
Payable via online banking on the day of the session.
My hours are:
Mondays - Thursdays inclusive
(Some early morning and evening sessions available)
Some Early
If you feel ready to contact me, you are most welcome to get in touch to arrange either of the 2 following options.
1. An initial 20 minute free consultation via Zoom or phone (not available for couples)
2. A full 1 hour counselling session either face-face, online or phone costing £40.
Face to face option only @ £50 for couples.
1. The 20 minute consultation will give you an opportunity to ask me for information about my practice and to decide whether I feel like the right counsellor for you. You may also want to share what is bringing you to counselling.
2. The one hour counselling session is for couples and individuals who want to get started straight away with counselling. Many people feel nervous at the beginning of the first session but they also find that, once they get started it soon begins to feel easier. I will spend a small part of the first session outlining the way my private practice is set up to work for you.
Cancellation Policy: Cancellations made by you for any reason within 24 hours of a booked session are charged at the full i hour rate. Cancellations or rescheduling outside 24 hours of a booked session are free.
Please view my Privacy Policy here.
Training and Qualifications
As a counsellor, I believe it is essential to have ongoing training for personal and professional development.
My foundation training is a Postgraduate Diploma in Person Centred Counselling.
Further training includes a Couples/Relationship Diploma, a Supervision certificate and 1 year of Gestalt Psychotherapy Diploma. In addition I continue to attend regular shorter trainings listed later on this page,
- NAOS Advanced Diploma in Relationship Counselling 2023-2024
- Cosca Counselling Supervision Certificate 2018
- GPTI Diploma Course in Gestalt Pyschotherapy Year 1 completed 2015-2016
- Postgraduate Diploma in Person Centred Counselling, Strathclyde University
2013-2015
- Certificate in Counselling Skills and Theory, University of Highlands and Islands
- 2012-2103
- Experience of large and small group work 2012-present
- Various short training courses and workshops exploring: Family Constellations, Psychodrama, Solution Focused Brief Therapy, Attachment theory, Play therapy, Perinatal psychosis, Suicide awareness, Trauma, Internal Family Systems and an introduction to Couples counselling
- Certified Provider of TRE ( Trauma Release Exercises) 2017-2019. This is an autonomous body practice that is very supportive for getting in touch with what the body is holding. For more information click here.