Hello! I am a fully qualified and accredited psychotherapist and supervisor registered with UKCP (United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy). I offer short term counselling or longer term depth psychotherapy in a safe, confidential and respectful space. I have worked as a counsellor in a variety of settings, and held a private psychotherapy practice for 25 years. I enjoy working with a wide range of people and have gained a breadth of experience of issues that human beings can meet in life.
Initially trained as a Social Worker in the 90's, I came into training as a psychotherapist whilst working and offering counselling in the addictions field. I later worked as a counsellor in higher education, before making my private psychotherapy practice my sole means of work in 2008. I have undergone a 2 year post qualifying training exploring the first 18 months of life and impact of early developmental issues on our present experience. I have also trained in and had a long term interest in the wonderfully freeing work of Eugene Gendlin called 'focusing', which enables a deep listening to and accessing of our bodies sensing or knowing about an issue or life situation. Compatible with this I am also a qualified Somatic Experiencing Practitioner, a therapeutic form pioneered by Dr Peter Levine to work with and resolve Trauma. I am a trained AEDP ( Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy) Level 2 therapist, which further supports working with developmental and attachment based trauma.
I have an inquisitive mind and am deeply fascinated by this thing called 'life' that we are all in together. How to fully experience my own aliveness, become more open (and know what blocks this!) are ongoing practices for me. One of the biggest supports in this for me is the spiritual practice of meditation. I have been a meditator for most of my adult life, and find that the mindfulness and compassion practices from the Buddhist tradition, supports a level of presence and quality of attention that I can bring to my therapeutic work, and also engenders a greater heart connection with people. Though not originally from Scotland, I have a deep love of the Scottish landscape and continue to be nourished by the largeness it represents for me. The movement from a sense of limitation to a growing freedom - of embodying greater wholeness has been an ongoing enquiry and vision in my own life, and one I wish to share with others.
I am a graduate of the Karuna Institute and am an accredited psychotherapist registered with the UKCP (United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy). I abide by the UKCP's Code of Ethics.
Both terms are sometimes used interchangeably and there isn 't a clear cut line between the two. However, as I see it, if the therapeutic work is relatively short term, perhaps focussing on a specific issue, then I tend to see this as more of a counselling process. If the work is a longer term, deeper exploration of experience and life issues, then I tend to view this as psychotherapy. Having said this, I have at times done some very deep work with short term clients .. there's no hard and fast rule. The other difference is in length of training. Psychotherapy training commonly takes far longer than counselling training. My own initial psychotherapy training was of four and a half years duration.
Initially, neither of us will know the outcome of our work together, although I will be listening carefully to what you wish to gain from therapy. Also, both my experience and research shows that if we form a good enough relationship in which to work, and you engage fully with the process, then you are likely to benefit from therapy. Some of the benefits may include a greater understanding of yourself and an increased ability to be open and intimate with other people, thereby increasing the quality of your relationships. You may also find yourself being better able to tolerate distressing feelings. It's a belief in Core Process work that true healing is only possible to the extent that we can be fully present to ourselves, here and now, as we are in our immediate experience. My role is to aid that process.
Many things! My intention is to respond as skilfully and appropriately as I can to you as a person and also to what you are bringing. My role is largely to listen to and support you in ‘being with’ what's emerging in the session and reflect back whatever is going on for you, which might be feelings, thoughts or emotions. Through this you're likely to find yourself becoming clearer about issues or experiences and also have a friendlier relationship with yourself. I 'm also interested in the here and now feelings which emerge between us as our work progresses, and exploring patterns of relating both between us and in your wider relational world.
It may be that as you begin to feel safer and have a trust in our therapeutic relationship, issues that have been suppressed might press for a space to be heard and resolved. However, what you bring in our work together would be decided by you. I would never push you to speak about any experience you didn’t either feel ready to speak about, or didn’t want to speak about. Should powerful and potentially overwhelming feelings surface, I would be working with you to help process them safely. I do have experience of working with people who have experienced extreme trauma and distress in their lives. It is possible, with support, to digest and process these experiences.
Until you decide it’s the right time to stop. I tend to offer the space in an open ended way, and much of my work is long term. If you wished, for whatever reason to come for a limited period of time, I would work with you appropriately to that end.
I offer a sliding fee scale between £55 and £65 per session, based on what is affordable for you, and dependent on capacity. I also offer a couple of additional low fee spaces.
