I charge £48 per session, payment is required 24 before each session.

This involves exploring your thoughts, feelings, and behaviours at your own pace and in your own way through various methods, including talking. Examples of these approaches include: 

Person Centred: This approach focuses on the here and now, is non-directive, offers no judgment, and provides empathy and genuineness. 

Psychodynamic therapy: This method helps individuals understand how unconscious thoughts and past experiences influence their current behaviour, feelings, and relationships. 

Integrative: This approach is a blend of different strategies tailored to meet the individual's needs, incorporating creative strategies where appropriate. 

Humanistic: This emphasises self-discovery and personal growth by focusing on the individual's feelings and potential through symbolic strategies. 

Why it helps: It identifies and helps you understand the patterns in your thoughts, feelings, and behaviours, as well as the origins of your emotions.

These involve expressive activities that serve as creative strategies, helping clients explore and communicate feelings in non-verbal ways. 

Examples include:

Art therapy: Drawing, painting, or sculpting to express emotions.

Music/sound therapy: Using music/sound to explore mood, identity, or memories.

Drama or role-play: Acting out scenarios to gain insight or rehearse coping strategies.

Storytelling or journaling: Writing personal narratives to process experiences.

Why it helps: These symbolic strategies bypass verbal limitations and allow clients to express complex or suppressed emotions safely, complementing traditional talking counselling.

Symbolic strategies utilise metaphors, imagery, and symbols to represent internal experiences, making them a valuable part of creative strategies in therapeutic settings. Examples include: Sand tray therapy, which involves using miniature figures and objects in sand to create scenes that reflect inner worlds; the use of metaphors, helping clients describe their feelings or situations through symbolic language (e.g., “I feel like I’m carrying a heavy backpack”); and dream work, where exploring dreams serves as a means to uncover symbolic representations of unconscious thoughts. These talking counselling techniques are effective because they can make abstract or overwhelming emotions more tangible and manageable.

Somatic (body-based) approaches focus on the connection between body and mind, especially in trauma recovery. These methods incorporate creative strategies that promote healing through embodied experiences. Examples include: Breathwork and grounding exercises to regulate the nervous system; movement therapy, such as dance or yoga, to release tension and reconnect with the body; body scanning to increase awareness of physical sensations linked to emotional states; and touch or sensory integration, used carefully and ethically, to help clients feel safe and present. Additionally, symbolic strategies can be employed to deepen the understanding of the body-mind connection. Why it helps: Trauma and stress often manifest physically, and somatic strategies, along with talking counselling, aid clients in reconnecting with their bodies and releasing stored tension.