My Approach

I’m a Gestalt counsellor. At the heart of my work is a simple curiosity: what is it like to be you, in your life, at this moment?

We can spend so much time trying to understand why we feel a certain way, or telling ourselves what we ought to do next, that we lose touch with what is actually happening. In our sessions, I’ll invite us to slow down and notice. That might include what you’re feeling in your body, a thought you keep returning to, something you find difficult to say, or what happens between us as we talk.

I’m not there to observe you from a distance and arrive at an answer. I’ll bring my attention, my questions and, at times, what I notice in our conversation. We can be curious about it together. You can tell me when something doesn’t fit.

Making room for change

I’m interested in the ways we adapt to the people and circumstances around us. A way of protecting yourself or holding a relationship together may have made sense for a long time, even if it now feels constraining. Rather than treating that part of you as a problem to get rid of, we can explore what it has been doing for you.

I’m especially drawn to questions of loss, belonging and change. How do we live with someone’s absence, or with a relationship that cannot be what we wished? What does it mean to leave a place, a role or an earlier version of ourselves? How might we loosen our grip on an expectation without losing what mattered?

I don’t think letting go has to mean forgetting. Nor do I think change can always be hurried. Sometimes being met where you are creates a little more room to feel, respond and choose.

Gestalt therapy also pays attention to the wider context of a person’s life. Our relationships, identities, health, histories and surroundings are not separate from what we feel. This informs both my one-to-one counselling and my developing work with people in their homes, though you don’t need to be interested in your home to work with me.