My Approach

What I do

I work with clients seeking support with a variety of issues. My areas of specialty can be found at Adolescents and Adults.

Therapy with me is collaborative, and together we move at your pace. The therapeutic modalities and tools that I use are very much tailored to who you are as a person, what resonates with you, and what you find helpful. For some clients, this means that therapy is more structured, focusing on psychoeducation, skill-building and practical tools that they can use. For other clients, this means spaciousness to flow with whatever they bring on the day, focusing on reflection and achieving deeper insight. My practice is consent-based, with opportunities to make choices and regular check-ins about how things are landing with you. We can change things up at any time, so if something doesn’t feel helpful or right for you, we can always let it go and explore something else.

Some of the therapeutic modalities that I draw on are Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Dialectical Behavioural Therapy (DBT), Schema Therapy, Psychodynamic Therapy and Compassion-Focused Therapy (CFT). My work is informed by attachment theory, polyvagal theory and neuroscience. I also use interventions that are based in self-compassion, mindfulness, expressive arts therapy, play therapy, somatic principles and existentialism.

How I do it

My orientation as a therapist is person-centered, offering all of my clients empathy, unconditional positive-regard and genuineness. What does this mean for you as a client? Most importantly, it means that the therapeutic relationship is emotionally open, welcoming and judgement free, and that I am authentic and real with you. This is important for building trust and creates a supportive environment for you to feel safe enough to open up and explore your inner experiences deeply. It also means that I invite you to bring all parts of you and your experiences to counselling, rather than expecting you to censor yourself for my benefit.

I know what it is like to be in therapy as a client. I know that starting out in therapy can be daunting. Even if you have experienced therapy before, starting therapy with a new therapist involves a lot of unknowns! You do not know the therapist, you do not know what therapy with them is going to be like, and you do not if it is going to help with the things you really want help with. The unknowns can leave you feeling pretty vulnerable.

I also know that therapy with the right therapist can be incredibly rewarding and transformative. I know that a good therapeutic relationship offers a lot of valuable things like deep listening, understanding and validation. And I also know that therapy that leads to deep change also involves times that can be difficult, uncomfortable and messy. An empathetic and supportive therapist who is willing to sit with you in the difficulty, discomfort and mess in service of your growth, self-discovery and healing makes all the difference in the world. My experiences in therapy as a client inform how I show up as a therapist.

Social Justice

Celebration of LGBTQIA+ Diversity

I celebrate the incredible diversity of the LGBTQIA+ community. I pay my respects to everyone who has fought for LGBTQIA+ rights across history, and to members of the LGBTQIA+ community and allies who continue to advocate for and celebrate the incredible diversity of people's bodies, genders, sexualities, relationships and identities.

Celebration of Neurodiversity

I celebrate the diversity of different brains, including different ways of feeling, thinking, behaving and understanding the world. I practice neurodiversity affirming care and I am committed to continually growing, learning and developing neurodiversity affirming ways of practicing.

Weight Neutrality and Health at Every Size® (HAES®)

I am informed by the Health at Every Size® (HAES®) approach to wellbeing. This approach acknowledges the inherent humanity, worth and rights of people of all sizes. I encourage weight inclusivity, eating for well-being and life-enhancing movement. Some of the core principles of HAES® are:

• Healthcare is a human right for people of all sizes, including those at the highest end of the size spectrum.

• Wellbeing, care, and healing are resources that are both collective and deeply personal.

• Care is fully provided only when free from anti-fat bias and offered with people of all sizes in mind.

• Health is a sociopolitical construct that reflects the values of society.

Recognition of Oppression

Oppression refers to systemic discrimination where the injustice targets or disproportionately impacts specific groups of people. I recognise that oppression has significant impacts on the lives on many. To understand mental health and wellbeing, it is essential to consider the impacts of systemic oppression, disadvantage and marginalisation. I am committed to anti-oppressive frameworks of practice. This includes treating each person as the expert of their own experience and making space to explore how oppression has impacted and continues to impact that experience. I am committed to challenging systems of oppression including sexism, racism, heterosexism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism, classism and ageism.

Recognition of Intersectionality

Intersectionality refers to the ways in which different aspects of a person’s identity can expose them to overlapping forms of discrimination and marginalisation. I recognise that identity is complicated and individuals can hold multiple social and political identities and experiences that relate to marginalisation, disadvantage and privilege. I acknowledge that holding multiple marginalised identities, and/or disadvantages can lead to unique compounded experiences of discrimination and marginalisation that cannot be fully understood without considering intersectionality. I recognise the importance of considering intersectionality and complexity when trying to understand a person’s lived experience.

Trauma-Informed Care

My approach to mental health is trauma-informed. This means that I have been trained in understanding the nature of trauma and how it can impact individuals in significant, complex and long-term ways. I am also trained to recognise trauma responses and potential indicators of trauma.

Some aspects of trauma-informed practice include:

• Prioritising the client’s sense of safety

• Building trust through transparent communication

• Supporting client agency by offering choices and seeking consent

• A compassionate and collaborative approach to therapy

• Thoroughly considering histories of trauma in case conceptualisation and treatment planning

• Avoiding treatments and interventions that may retraumatise people with histories of trauma (e.g. some mindfulness practices are not recommend)

• Identifying and building on the strengths and resilience of clients

• Considering the client’s protective factors in their environments and their connections to others

When trauma shows up in therapy, my priority is reducing the risk of retraumatisation and supporting the client to rebuild a sense of control, safety and agency. I work in a slow and consent-based way that emphasises physical, psychological, and emotional safety for the client. I believe in the innate resilience of clients and their ability to heal from trauma, and I hold this belief throughout the therapy process. I also work within the scope of my professional training and expertise, and make referrals to trauma specialists if needed.

Depathologising Approach to Mental Health

I take a depathologising approach to mental health, meeting every client as a whole, unique and complex person who cannot be reduced down to a diagnostic label/s. I recognise that diagnostic labels can be helpful for a variety of reasons and I am not against their use, but I also acknowledge the flaws within the current diagnostic systems. I also resist the idea that only people with mental health diagnoses should have access to counselling.

I acknowledge that the historical legacy of systemic medical model approaches to mental health like psychiatry and psychology is complicated and ethically fraught. These systemic approaches have caused harm, especially to vulnerable and marginalised people.

I acknowledge that people exist in social and societal contexts, and that people must be understood within these contexts. I believe that human beings innately tend to do the best that they can to survive and cope with difficult situations. The survival and coping skills that a human being uses may be imperfect and difficult for others to understand, and may have unintended or unwanted consequences. Conceptualising these behaviours as evidence of a particular mental illness/es without acknowledging the contexts that they arose in and the survival and coping functions that they have had for an individual can be limiting, pathologising and even harmful.