How I work
How I work
What a session is actually like, and the thinking behind it.
Not sure how this would work for you? Ask me.
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What a session is like
You arrive, and we talk. There is no assessment to pass, no form of words you have to get right, and no history you need to have prepared. The first session is mostly me understanding what brings you in and what you are hoping for, and you getting a sense of whether this feels like the right fit.
From there, each session is shaped by what is most present for you that week. Some people like to work with one theme over several weeks. Others bring whatever is on top. Both work. The pace is yours, and nothing is rushed.
Person-centred counselling
Person-centred counselling starts from one premise: that you are the expert on your own life. My role is not to assess you, hand you a diagnosis, or tell you what your experience means. It is to offer a space where you are not judged and where your experience is taken seriously on its own terms.
In practice that means the work is shaped by what matters to you, not by a fixed programme. This is not a passive approach. It is curious, direct and engaged. The difference is in who leads.
Polyvagal-informed practice
Polyvagal theory, developed by Dr Stephen Porges, describes how the nervous system responds to threat and to safety, and how that shapes our capacity to think, connect and cope. It is a useful lens rather than settled science, and that is how I hold it.
In plain terms: many of the responses that feel like personal failings, such as shutting down, snapping, struggling to concentrate, or a body that will not relax, are often the nervous system doing exactly what it learned to do to stay safe. Understanding that changes your relationship with those responses. Working in a Polyvagal-informed way means I pay attention to settling and safety as part of the work, not as an aside.
Where Brainspotting fits
I also draw on Brainspotting, a focused approach for working with difficult experiences at a deeper level than talking alone sometimes reaches. It is one approach among several that I use where it suits the person and the work, not something every session involves.
More about BrainspottingWho I work with
I work with adults, couples and families across a wide range of situations, and with clients of every culture, faith and background. Two commitments are worth stating plainly, because people often arrive having been let down on exactly these points before.
LGBTQIA+ affirming
Your identity is not treated as a presenting problem, and I do not work from a framework that positions any gender identity, sexual orientation or relationship structure as something to be adjusted.
Neurodiversity-informed
I do not assume the goal is to appear neurotypical, or that a neurodivergent way of processing is a fault to be corrected. Sessions adapt where it helps.
Whenever you are ready.
Registered Counsellor · HPCSA PRC0039357