You may just need someone to talk to. Something specific may have happened (a bereavement, the end of a relationship, the loss of a job) that is difficult to cope with, or you may want something to change but don’t know how to make it happen. Perhaps things just don’t feel right for no particular reason.

So how does talking to a counsellor help? Telling a counsellor your ‘story’ can help to lift the burdens that you may be carrying with you, and which you feel you can’t share with family or friends. But telling the story is only part of the process.

Counsellors are trained to listen, and to notice what is said and what isn’t said. By really paying attention to what you say and how you feel, and exploring those things with you, a counsellor can help you to understand and accept yourself. The confidence which arises from this process is the basis for coping with changes that have happened, to make changes, or to feel better about the way things are.

I am a Humanistic Counsellor, which means I work with you to develop your strengths and build on your resources to deal with difficulties you may be having. The most important part of the way I practice is in the development of a relationship with you as this is the foundation of the therapy.  I trained as a counsellor at Manchester University and am registered and accredited with the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP). While the core of my approach is 'talking therapy' I am also trained in EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing). This is a dynamic way to help clients to process difficult memories and experiences and help them to find more adaptive ways of living. I integrate this technique into counselling sessions to help clients who have had traumatic experiences (either a single experience or more persistent issues) or are 'stuck' in unhelpful patterns of behaviour and feelings.

Alongside my private practice, I have provided counselling at the Macmillan Wellbeing Centre at Trafford General Hospital, where I worked with clients whose lives have been affected by illness or bereavement. I have also practiced at Manchester Metropolitan University’s Student counselling service and at primary and high schools in Greater Manchester. Therefore I am familiar with clients who are at very different stages of their lives, and who bring a range of experiences to our counselling sessions. In my private practice I work with adults and young people from the age of thirteen.

Before training to be a counsellor, I worked as a lecturer in English Literature. While the two professions may seem unrelated, there is some common ground. Teaching, like counselling, depends on good relationships and trust. Like counselling, teaching English Literature requires open-mindedness, comfort with uncertainty, and an interest in what lies beneath the surface of words and in the patterns of stories. Like a good book, counselling is a creative and collaborative activity, shared between the counsellor (the reader) and the client (the writer).