As many of you know, I express myself and parts of my journey in my tattoo choices. There have been a variety of reasons why I have chosen some of my designs, and wanted to share this one with you as it represents me, my clients, and the work we do together. Jiminy Cricket came first as a lot of people said they imagined me sitting on their shoulders helping them to make different choices in their real lives. Jiminy represents many areas of therapy work, and for me, it starts

I have heard many people speak about levels of neurodiversity, such as Autism and ADHD, and whether someone is just a little bit or very ND. The other similar comment I hear is that everyone is a little bit ND. Neither of these thoughts is right, and I would like to share my thoughts and feelings about this. Neurodiversity isn’t a choice. It's not an illness that can be cured, you don’t grow out of it, it does not just affect certain types of people, and it’s not something th

There still seem to be so many myths about what counselling is, what good it could do, and who ‘should’ be considering it. I have heard many reasons from people who deny themselves the chance to feel better about themselves and their lives, based on preconceived ideas about what happens in the therapy room, or even about the kind of people that would give it a go. Most people who have an ongoing physical issue will recognise the value in going to see their GP, and getting so

I have been asked many times why I chose to be a counsellor and if I find it hard listening to other people’s stories each day. My answer every time is that I love my work and feel very privileged that I am trusted with such precious information about people’s lives. For some years, I worked in a couple of roles within mental health and the work was incredibly rewarding. However, many of my clients felt they were not really listened to, that many of the professionals they wo

When choosing a therapist, I often advise people to contact, and possibly meet, 2 or 3 different therapists before deciding who to work with. A crucial part of successful, healthy counselling is the relationship that develops between the client and the therapist, and you can only really get a feel of whether or not they are the right person for you by meeting them. By having an initial session, you are able to reflect on how you felt with the counsellor, if you felt safe beli

I have found a recurring difficulty that a lot of people struggle with is that they do not feel they are good enough. Whether this comes from childhood experiences, from people leading them to think that they get things wrong, or from a wide spectrum of reasons, it is common for people to feel that others are better, smarter, or always get it right. This can lead you to ignore your own wants and needs and to always put others first. You make sure those around you are happy, e

Sometimes we feel trapped, or as if we do not have choices. We have pressures from life, people, and responsibilities - and these can all cloud our ability to see that we have choices and that decisions are ours to make. We do things automatically, or as a reflex, and can repeat the same things we have done many times before. We can all make a change by making a new choice, accepting this truth, and deciding to do it a new way. This can be a small decision, such as reacting