How I work
My therapeutic approach is psychodynamic, which means considering how your past might be affecting your present. Sometimes we’re responding to unresolved past experiences rather than to the present situation. Once we become conscious of this, we can begin to create new patterns.
Sometimes we have been wounded in the past, in ways that still need healing. As well as talking therapy, I can also work with you on increasing your bodily awareness, to help you find ways of better regulating your emotions and find a greater measure of calm. It can be helpful to address how the body responds, as well as what we may be feeling and thinking. It is very important to me to work in a trauma-informed way. At the start of therapy, I work to establish with each client what helps them feel safe; as therapy continues, I work together with the client to prevent them being retraumatised by revisiting the past.
I have experience working with anxiety, childhood trauma, PTSD, depression, relationship difficulties, lack of confidence and self-belief, grief and bereavement, and spiritual questions. I have an interest in chronic illness (ME/CFS in particular), caring, and adoption.
I am committed to providing a safe and nurturing therapeutic space for all clients, regardless of ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, disability, or any other consideration.
My training
Prior to training as a counsellor, I worked in education, where I particularly enjoyed supporting students. I received my diploma in Psychodynamic Counselling from the Garnethill Centre in Glasgow in early 2021. I have an Advanced Certificate in Online and Telephone Counselling.
I continue to learn and expand my skills with ongoing professional development. I have undertaken training in therapeutic approaches to trauma, as well as in working with shame, anxiety, and grief. I seek to deepen my understanding of gender and sexuality, neurodiversity, and disability.
Why Online Counselling?
When I began counselling training in 2017, my goal was to offer online counselling to those who, for whatever reason, have difficulty attending face-to-face appointments. In March 2020, the pandemic tipped the world on its side, and counsellors had to close their doors and retrain to work online. I discovered the many benefits, beyond accessibility, of working this way. Clients can choose where they work, they can show me things if they wish, and bring a creative dimension to the therapy that isn’t so possible when we meet in a room facing each other in two chairs. While not every need can be met by online counselling, for the majority of people, online counselling has been shown to be as beneficial as in-person counselling. I have found deep connection with my clients working online.
Why Cedartrees?
Cedar trees have had meaning for me throughout my life. Growing up in Oregon, I had a cedar tree friend in whose branches I found refuge and solace. My grandfather’s first childhood home was built around six cedar trees. Here in Scotland, for many years I was the custodian of an impressive Atlas cedar tree. Trees remind me that we are all connected to the earth, and to one another.
“Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart, and try to love the questions themselves…”
Rainer Maria Rilke, LETTERS TO A YOUNG POET
Cedartrees Counselling Glasgow 