I don’t know about you, but lockdown was one of the weirdest parts of my life so far. I am one of the lucky ones who survived it fairly...

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

Since discovering my neurodiversity, especially ADHD, I have heard many different responses when I have spoken to others about this. I...

It fills me with a certain amount of hope that counselling, and support with mental health in general, is finally being seen in a more positive light. More than once I have heard people make comments along the lines of “Isn’t counselling just about chatting and having a moan?” and it makes me a little sad to hear it. That is like saying that cake is just flour, eggs, butter, and sugar. Technically this may be right, but the result is so much more than that. Of course, the pr

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

How many times have you been told to cheer up, stop moping, or not to cry, regardless of what you might actually be experiencing? Lots? Too often? People can sometimes mistake feeling sad for being depressed, which can cause them to worry if they don’t check to see if they have a real reason for feeling sad. Feeling sad is just one part of being human, just one of our emotions, and it is ok to feel sad at times. For example, if someone you love has died, you’ve lost or broke

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

So often in life, we are faced with decision or situations which creates a feeling of fear or anxiety. How we deal with this feeling is what makes the difference in how we live our lives. Do we give in to the fear or do we strive to push through it and do what we need anyway? Healing this fear is not always about not feeling scared anymore. It can be about finding the strength and courage to push forward and become bigger than the fear. Sometimes we have to do this alone, bu