The Therapists

I am a BACP Accredited integrative counsellor with a person-centred foundation. At the heart of my work is the belief that every person deserves to feel heard, understood and accepted without judgement. I aim to provide a warm, compassionate and supportive space where clients can explore whatever is troubling them at a pace that feels right for them. My work is client-led, meaning I do not follow a rigid agenda or assume that I know what is best for the people I work with. Instead, I believe that each person is the expert on their own life and that meaningful change often comes through developing a trusting therapeutic relationship in which thoughts, feelings and experiences can be explored safely. Whilst my foundation is person-centred, I work integratively and may draw upon other therapeutic approaches where it is helpful to do so.

I have experience working with adults, children and young people from a variety of backgrounds and have supported people with a wide range of presenting issues, including anxiety, low self-esteem, bereavement and loss, relationship difficulties, stress, life transitions and the emotional impact of long-term health conditions. My professional experience has been gained through working in schools, a GP practice, the charitable sector, Employment Assistance Programmes (EAPs) and private practice. These experiences have given me the opportunity to work with people facing many different challenges and have reinforced my belief in the importance of tailoring therapy to the individual rather than applying a one-size-fits-all approach.

What I enjoy most about counselling is the privilege of walking alongside people during difficult periods in their lives. I value the opportunity to build genuine therapeutic relationships and to create a space where clients feel safe enough to explore, reflect and grow. It is often the experience of being truly listened to, understood and accepted that can help people reconnect with their own strengths and find a way forward.

I am a HCPC registered Chartered Counselling Psychologist, experienced psychotherapist (including compassion (CFT) and emotion focused therapist (EFT) with acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT and CBT) along with Humanistic/Experiential Psychotherapist.

My clinical areas of expertise include assessing and working therapeutically with people, for example, experiencing trauma, loss & bereavement, chronic illness and pain, neurodiversity including ASD and ADHD and eating disorders.

I work with adults and young people (11+) specialising in general mental health care including management of and adjustment to life changing circumstances, trauma, chronic illness and pain.

I complete medico-legal psychological and neuropsychological evaluation reports for civil, divorce, and family courts and assessments to inform, for example, rehabilitation, recovery from trauma, adjustment to changed circumstances, and employment.

I have extensive experience building and developing therapy services, consultancy, supervision and delivering training within and outside of the NHS.

I have nine years’ experience working therapeutically with people with a range of neurological disorders at The Brain Charity in Liverpool and in the community too using cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), compassion and emotion focused therapy (CFT/EFT) and person centred/experiential therapy. I previously was the clinical lead of a community, lottery funded general mental health counselling service in Flintshire, Wales.

My research focuses on assessing objectively neuropsychological difficulties faced by patients with a range of neurological disorders, such as ME/CFS and MS, and qualitative study of clients’ experiences of therapy. I have published critiques of low quality psychological clinical trials and theoretical misalignment with patient and objective evidence base particularly where these can result in patient harm.

I currently work half time as a Senior Psychologist for an NHS Chronic Pain Management Service in Merseyside.

I previously provided psychology and supervision services via remote technology through Teladoc Health for major insurers in UK and internationally (AXA, Aviva, and other service partners) including adults and young people. I currently work part time for Spectrum.Life in a similar role through insurers and EAPs.

I was a member of the advisory group for a research project with respect to ME/CFS for NICE with Oxford Brookes University in 2019.

I provide clinical supervision to colleagues and other healthcare professionals along with advising on the research process.

Through competitive process I was invited to join the Steering Committee of the Priority Setting Partnership (PSP) for ME with the James Lind Alliance in Aug 2020 as a clinician. Outcome form this was published in peer-review journal and is informing policy at the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and more widely.

I was the British Psychological Society (BPS) representative for the DHSC Attitudes and Education working group for Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME/CFS) government 10-year plan. I am current co-leading the development of a cross-divisional BPS good practice guideline for working well and effectively with people with ME/CFS.

I provide psychological support and education to several national patient charities and support groups.

I am also a Chartered Chemical Engineer and scientist with 15 years+ management and consultancy experience. I have worked alongside companies to reduce risk, improve human reliability, operations performance, quality systems and assessment. I am a specialist in human factors in management with special interest in cognitive and behavioural aspects of safety. I have worked in the public, private and third sectors.

I am an experienced integrative Counsellor and Psychotherapist, and a registered Member of the BACP. I believe the relationship between counsellor and client is at the heart of meaningful therapy. I meet you where you are, building a trusting therapeutic relationship where you can feel genuinely heard, understood and accepted.

My approach is collaborative and tailored to you, recognising that no two people or experiences are the same.

My work is informed by both professional expertise and lived experience. As someone living with a long-term chronic illness, as well as a chronic illness that developed following COVID-19, I understand many of the challenges that can accompany changes in health, identity, relationships, work and everyday life.

While no two experiences are the same, I offer a space where you won't need to explain or justify the reality of living with long-term illness before we begin our work together.

Together, we can explore the emotional impact of chronic illness, including grief, uncertainty, changes in identity, relationships, work or the future, helping you find ways to navigate these challenges in a way that feels right for you.

Whether you are living with Long COVID, ME/CFS, another chronic illness, or caring for someone who is, I offer a warm, confidential and compassionate space where your experiences will be met with understanding and respect.

I will help you explore your world with compassion and flexibility, needed for chronic illness based on my own experiences. Throughout my life I constantly found myself in the role of supporting people emotionally. A couple of times I ended up facilitating groups of people. I thought, perhaps I need to learn how to do this properly? Then with moderate ME/CFS I had some free time to fill and out of interest went along to attend a class on Counselling Skills at my local adult education college. Finding I enjoyed it, I signed up for the Counselling Diploma, again just out of interest, not with any intention of becoming a practising counsellor. My placement was with a mental health charity and once I had qualified I continued to volunteer with them, counselling face-to-face. When they set up an online single session counselling service I joined this and became a part-time paid counsellor which led eventually to my setting up my personal online and telephone practice. From the start I specialised in ME/CFS and other chronic illness and disability, as well as mental health given my background experience with the charity. I’m always aware how my client’s health may be affecting them during a session and keep in mind how it might factor into the therapy as a whole. For example, some of my clients with ME/CFS opt for fortnightly sessions to have longer than a week to process each session. I am an Integrative counsellor, making my own models from a variety of theoretical concepts and suiting them to my clients. I like working with a client and seeing how different methods fit them rather than taking a one size fits all approach.