About Me

I’ve completed an in depth, four-year training at The Bowlby Centre, London.

I work with individual adults (18+) at Stortford Therapy, in person, and offer online therapy on Zoom, once or twice weekly or more often if appropriate; with sessions being 50 minutes.

I initially offer three 50-minute sessions to provide an opportunity for us to get a sense of what it feels like to work together and to explore if it feels suitable to continue.

As an attachment-based therapist I usually work on a long-term, open-ended basis, in therapy that may last for months or years, depending on how long you wish to continue. This enables us to establish a strong, collaborative therapeutic relationship, work in depth and create a solid foundation for growth, healing and positive change.

I see each client as their own person, meeting them where they are currently, in their own, individual, lived experience. I aim to approach each client with warmth, openness, respect, authenticity and sensitivity, and an unbiased approach when engaging in areas of difference such as race, nationality, culture, gender identity, sexual orientation, class, ability and religion.

As well as my private practice, I also have experience working within the NHS Hertfordshire Partnership Trust as part of The Forensic and Learning Disability Service.

My Therapeutic Approach

Attachment Theory

As human beings, we have an innate, biological need for long-term, safe, secure, emotional and physical connection; to build the foundations of how we develop as a person, how we navigate our relationships and the ups and downs of life.

Attachment theory focuses on the primary relationships we develop with our caregivers, that informs how we see ourselves and the world around us. It also pays attention to the social, political and economic environment we find ourselves born into and the impact of this.

Sometimes, we discover that these experiences and models of relationship either help or hinder us in establishing fulfilling, emotional connections. We might enter repeated and unhelpful patterns of relating, power dynamics in relationship that cause us pain and develop maladaptive coping mechanisms to protect ourselves, that may cause us harm.

As an attachment-based psychotherapist it is a fundamental part of my work to form a new attachment relationship as a foundation for new positive, relational change; where painful experiences can be worked through collaboratively and compassionately with the aim of creating a more fulfilling connection with oneself and with others.

Processing Trauma

Trauma is an emotional and physical response to a single event, such as a life-threatening experience or bereavement; or when repeated experiences such as emotional neglect, abuse or violence occur.

When these experiences are too painful to process, this threatens a person’s sense of safety in the world and can cause us to feel dysregulated and overwhelmed; manifesting in a range of symptoms, not limited to, PTSD, flashbacks, feeling numb, dissociation, extreme rage, shame, anxiety, depression, addiction, disordered eating, self-harm and suicidality.

A trauma informed approach, understands the real impact of traumatic single events or painful complex, repeated experiences, that are at the root of emotional and physical distress; and how these past experiences can impact a person’s current life, mind, body and nervous system.

Supporting clients in processing these experiences carefully and sensitively and working to change how this impacts on their present and future, within a safe, secure, compassionate attachment environment is central to my work.

A Psychoanalytic Lens

Working through a psychoanalytic lens helps us to uncover internal feelings, thoughts, conflicts, desires and ways of relating that have been repressed, out of our conscious mind and bring them into awareness.

Sometimes, we might unknowingly, have kept these parts of ourselves hidden to, in albeit a very clever way, protect us from painful experiences or ways of relating. This can happen in early life and continue throughout.

In working to uncover these parts of ourselves, process and gain understanding of our unconscious feelings and repeated patterns of relating; and learning to hold compassion for the parts of ourselves and experience we may have kept hidden; we can move forward towards self-acceptance, growth, resilience and the power to make new choices about how we want to live our lives.

A part of this work, can focus on the subject matter and feelings experienced in our dreams, the role dreams play in emotional processing and how we can find meaning and understanding within them.

Through our work together, it’s my aim to support you to be in connection with, find compassion for, and understanding of, all of the different parts of yourself and your experience. As a therapist who works in a relational and psycho-dynamic tradition and as a human-being, it is fundamental to my work to approach each person with the warmth, sensitivity, understanding and respect they deserve.

Memberships and Code of Ethics

I am an individual member of the BACP (British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy) and abide by their code of ethics.

I am a member of The Bowlby Centre, a member organisation of the UKCP, and abide by their code of ethics.

I hold full professional indemnity insurance.

I am committed to my practice and continued professional development.