If you've never done counselling before, the idea of it can be vague — what actually happens, how long does it take, how often do you go. Here's the practical shape of what we'd do together.
These aren't categories I tick on a form — they're loose shapes of what often brings people through the door. If your situation doesn't fit neatly here, please come anyway. Most things don't fit neatly.
Persistent worry, low energy, the feeling that you're functioning but only just. The things that medication can help with but often don't get to the root of.
The shifts that change everything quietly — becoming a parent, leaving a job, a relationship ending or beginning, a sense that the life you're in doesn't quite fit any more.
For loss that's recent or loss that's been with you for years. Grief doesn't always look the way we expect, and it doesn't follow a timeline.
For when something feels off and you can't quite name it. For when you've spent a long time being who other people needed you to be, and you're not sure who you are now.
Most people work with me for somewhere between three months and a year, meeting weekly or fortnightly. There's no rule — we'd figure out what suits you. Here's the rough shape.
Before anything is booked, we talk on the phone for fifteen minutes. The point is to see if I'm someone you'd feel comfortable working with. Tell me roughly what's brought you, ask anything you want to know. No commitment.
A more thorough conversation. I'll ask about what's bringing you, your background, and what you'd like to be different. You'll have plenty of room to ask questions. By the end, we'd usually agree to either book a few more or part ways with my blessing if it's not the right fit.
For the bulk of our work, most people come weekly at the same time. That regularity does something — it builds a rhythm where things can come up properly. Some people prefer fortnightly. We'd agree what works.
Every two or three months we'd pause and check in: how is this going, what's changed, what's still on the list. Counselling isn't open-ended drifting — it should be heading somewhere.
Endings matter. When we agree it's time, we'd usually do two or three final sessions to mark the work properly — not just stop. People sometimes come back months later if something new comes up; that's normal and welcome.
A small, quiet room on the ground floor of a Victorian terrace. Easy to find, free street parking after 6pm, ten minutes' walk from the city centre. Many people find being in a different physical space part of what makes counselling work.
Same hour, same conversation, from wherever you are. Particularly useful if you've got childcare commitments, work patterns that make travel hard, or you live further out. I use a GDPR-compliant video platform — not Zoom or Teams.
If something in the above sounds right, the first thing to do is a 15-minute call. No charge, no commitment — just a conversation to see if we'd work well together.
Book the first call