As a counsellor I am holistically minded, strongly integrative and highly relational. First and foremost, I am a person-centred therapist who understands that each of us has an inner 'life-boat' – strong and buoyant – rich with resource and innate wisdom nudging us to course correct and head home. It also knows what is needed to heal. And expand. And find joy. I listen for this as people tell their story and help them more deeply attunement to all it reveals. In this way, my approach is strongly informed by a strength’s based, resource-rich, humanistic model.  

That said, to my mind, who we are today is significantly shaped by past experiences, choices and relational dynamics from ghosts of Christmas Past. Identifying and dismantling the unhelpful, outworn scripts - all be they often unconscious - adopted in the 'back-there-and-then' is integral in opening space for something new. In this way, there are undeniable psychodynamic underpinnings to my approach. 

Further, my practice is also quietly informed by feminist and family systems theories which recognise the unavoidable, vital sociocultural and external factors at work in the life of an individual, particularly for us women living in structures of unaddressed patriarchy. Relational context plays such a vital part in one’s experience of life and personal growth. 

As a talk therapist, I often draw on Internal Family Systems (IFS), developed by Dr. Richard Schwartz. This beautiful, non-pathologising approach views the psyche as a dynamic system of ‘parts’ rather than a single entity. It allows us to approach even the most challenging emotions or self-destructive behaviours with compassionate curiosity rather than judgment or fear.

By fostering a respectful dialogue between these parts and your core Self - that inner life-boat - we work well toward increased clarity, resilience and inner calm.