I am a New Zealand trained, British born counsellor with specialist training and experience working with neurodiverse children and adults. I work in flexible and creative ways to support individuals to be themselves and to foster positive connections with others. I have a strong interest in up-to-date neuroscience together with a fascination for the full range of human cultures. These inform my holistic and person-centred practice, acknowledging that family, culture, spirituality and creativity are vital for positive mental health. I am committed to working sensitively and safely with with people from all cultural backgrounds and LGBTQ+.
Counselling provides a safe, non-judgemental space for you to be heard and feel understood.
It might not always feel like it, but you are the expert on your own life. My counselling approach seeks to work with you to explore what’s going well and what’s proving a challenge.
Together, we’ll explore your values, assumptions and beliefs and create supportive, functional strategies and solutions to help you make sense of where you are right now.
I provide guidance and coaching around family relationships. This can be especially helpful where one or more family members are neurodiverse – this includes autism, Asperger’s, ADHD, ADD, sensory processing disorder, dyslexia, Tourette’s and other neurological differences.
For children, I provide counselling that includes therapeutic play. Play is a tool that children naturally use to process information about the world and is therapeutic when the child is in a safe and non-judgmental space with the therapist. This can help to improve resilience, relationships and self-confidence, process trauma and lower anxiety levels.
Neurodiverse children also benefit from play-based counselling to support resilience, improve relationships and release trauma. When appropriate, I include strategies that will support the child with the development of social skills, emotional regulation and problem-solving skills.