Therapy

This page explains what therapy is, how it works, and what to expect if you are considering it for the first time. Whether you are exploring your options or ready to take the next step, this guide covers the essentials.

Therapy is a professional, confidential process where you work with a trained therapist to explore your thoughts, feelings, and experiences. It can help with a wide range of difficulties including anxiety, depression, relationship problems, trauma, and life transitions. Therapy provides a safe space to understand yourself better and develop healthier ways of coping.

Therapy is a confidential, professional process where you work with a qualified therapist to explore your thoughts, feelings, and experiences. It can help you understand yourself better, process difficult experiences, and develop healthier ways of coping with life's challenges.

You meet with your therapist regularly, usually weekly, for sessions lasting around 50 minutes. What you discuss is led by you. Your therapist listens, asks questions, and helps you explore things at a deeper level. Over time, this process can bring greater clarity, self-awareness, and the ability to make changes.

This varies from person to person. Some people find a few sessions helpful. Others benefit from longer-term work over months or years. Whether you need short-term or ongoing support, the approach is tailored to what is right for you.

Yes. Everything discussed in therapy is confidential. There are limited exceptions where confidentiality may need to be broken - if there is a risk of serious harm to you or others, if disclosure is legally required by a court, or if there is suspected abuse of a child or vulnerable adult. Where possible, you would be informed before any disclosure is made.

The terms are often used interchangeably, and there is significant overlap. Counselling tends to focus on specific issues and may be shorter-term, while therapy - particularly psychotherapy - often explores deeper patterns and may be longer-term. In practice, the most important factor is the quality of the relationship between you and your therapist. Therapy vs Counselling

Yes. Therapy can help you understand what is driving your anxiety, develop coping strategies, and address the underlying patterns or experiences that contribute to it. Many people find that therapy significantly reduces their anxiety over time.

Research consistently shows that online therapy is as effective as face-to-face therapy for the majority of concerns. It offers added flexibility and accessibility, allowing you to attend from wherever feels most comfortable and private. Is Online Therapy Effective

If something does not feel right - whether it is your mood, your relationships, your work, or just a general sense of being stuck - therapy can help. You do not need to wait until things feel unbearable. Many people come to therapy simply because they want to understand themselves better or work through something that has been on their mind.

The first session is an initial assessment lasting up to 90 minutes. I will ask about your personal history, family background, what has brought you to therapy and what you hope to gain. I also carry out a risk assessment. This session costs £90 and there is no obligation to continue. It is a chance for both of us to see whether working together feels right.

There is no fixed number of sessions. Some people find a few months helpful, while others choose to work over a longer period. It depends on what you are working through and what you want to achieve. We will regularly check in about how the therapy is going, and you are free to end whenever you feel ready. This is your process and your pace.

The terms are often used interchangeably. In practice, counselling sometimes refers to shorter-term, more focused work, while therapy or psychotherapy may go deeper into underlying patterns and past experiences. I am trained in integrative counselling and psychotherapy, which means I can work at the depth that suits your needs. What matters most is finding an approach that helps you.

Yes, our sessions are confidential in line with the BACP Ethical Framework. I would only need to break confidentiality if there were a serious risk of harm to you, to others, or to children, or if disclosure were required by law - for example, in relation to safeguarding, terrorism or money laundering. I will always discuss these boundaries with you at the start of our work.

Yes. I work with people who have experienced a range of traumatic events, including coercive control, stalking, institutional harm and relational trauma. My approach is trauma-informed, which means I work at a pace that feels safe for you and pay close attention to the impact of your experiences. We do not rush into distressing material before you are ready.

I work with adults aged 18 and over, based in the UK. I see both men and women for individual therapy. I do not offer couples therapy, family therapy or work with children. If your primary concern is addiction, active psychosis or a condition requiring psychiatric care, I would help you find a more suitable professional. We can discuss suitability on the free introductory call.

Many of my clients are coming to therapy for the first time, and it is completely normal to feel nervous. You do not need to prepare anything or know what to say. I offer a free 15-minute introductory call where you can ask questions and get a sense of how I work. The initial assessment then gives us both time to explore whether therapy with me feels like the right fit for you.