My Approach

I'm a qualified person centered counsellor meaning that I seek to offer a safe, nurturing and a non judgmental environment in which the client is able to explore any issues without fear of judgement or shame. I will listen and try my best to understand what it is like to be you, to see things from your perspective, walking alongside you, understanding you and trying to communicate that emphatic understanding to you to help you understand yourself.

I'm not the expert in your world, I will bring myself, a warm, approachable and genuine person to the relationship remaining focused on you in a genuine, emphatic and accepting way.

I may ask some questions to help clarify or understand your world, however you lead the session and are free to explore your own thoughts and feelings and whatever is on your mind.

As a counsellor I have both a legal and an ethical duty to protect my clients’ confidentiality at all times. This extends to basic personal data like names and addresses as well as the more sensitive personal information that is inevitably shared during the course of therapy.

I will never share or sell your personal data for personal or commercial gain.

I take every precaution to ensure that your personal identity or personal data is secure and not accidentally shared or disclosed.

In order to comply with data protection laws, I am registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office.

I comply with the ethical and professional standards set out by the BACP.(British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy), of which I am a registered member (no 399386) which requires counsellors to offer the highest possible level of confidentiality to respect the clients privacy, keeping trust and clients autonomy.

I have regular supervision which is an essential element of any counsellors practice. My supervisor is the one person with whom I regularly discuss the content of therapeutic sessions with. My supervisor is another experienced counsellor. They are there to provide me with support and guidance and to make sure that I am serving the best interests of interests of my clients at all times.

Normally, whilst my supervisor might know some of the details of my clients’ therapeutic sessions, they don’t know their identity. In the highly unlikely event that my supervisor did know one of my clients they have the same enforceable ethical and professional obligations to protect their confidentiality as I do.

The relationship between therapist and client is a unique one in which the client shares intimate details of their life that probably even their closest friends and family don’t know. It is also a business relationship in which the client pays for a service that the counsellor may rely on for part or all of their livelihood.

The best way to ensure there is no conflict between the business and therapeutic relationship is through complete transparency. For this reason, I set out in writing what my clients can expect from me during our time working together and also what I expect from them.

At the start of the relationship I will ask you to sign two documents:

- Data Consent form which is the information I hold about you

- Counselling contract which focuses more on things such as financial commitments