Psychotherapy in Brighton, Hove, and online
Thinking about therapy?
I am an experienced psychodynamic psychotherapeutic counsellor (PGDip, MBACP) working in Brighton and Hove (and online). I offer both short-term and long-term therapy. I am BACP registered, fully insured, and adhere to the highest standards of ethics and conduct.
You may be facing a particular challenge, or you may feel weighed down and generally low, feeling that life isn’t as hopeful or as happy as you thought it would be. Therapy can help. Through my counselling and psychotherapy work, I have helped people meet their challenges with kindness and courage. Supportive therapy can help you discover a way forward.
We are all capable of finding new freedom and discovering new possibilities, no matter what our past looked like or how we feel now. You can begin to feel more alive, more open, and more joyful with a therapist that holds you and hears you. You can find solutions to obstacles, clarity within yourself, you can learn courage, resilience, and self-acceptance.
I am neuro-divergent friendly, LGBTQI+ and trans affirming, I offer a safe space for all humans.
I work with a wide range of issues: depression, low mood, anxiety, relationship difficulties, chronic health conditions, neurodivergence (autism, ADHD, dyslexia, OCD), sexuality and identity, and others (just ask).
About me
After experiencing first-hand the benefits of the ‘talking cure’ in my own therapeutic journey, I decided to train as a psychodynamic therapist. The process of exploring and understanding that therapy allowed helped me recover from a long-term health condition (ME/chronic fatigue). An essential part of the process was learning to value myself in ways that weren’t about achieving things out there ‘in the world’.
A background in literature, film, and critical philosophy have been helpful in my training as a therapist. What are the stories we live by? How did they come about, who brought them into being, and who controls them? When we give ourselves the space to think about these things, we often discover that, as we are now, we are living a story that isn’t fully ours, that is partly hidden from us, and inside which we feel powerless. Psychodynamic therapy helps us look at the origins of these stories in our early relationships, and this can help us uncover a new understanding of who we are now, and with this knowledge we are able to change our story of ourselves: we re-story ourselves in ways that bring us more aliveness and freedom.
My history of chronic illness has given me understanding and compassion for anyone living with health challenges and other vulnerabilities. I worked extensively in the care sector before training, and have seen first-hand the difficulties of living with other conditions
Training and education
PgDip (Merit) – Psychodynamic Counselling and Psychotherapy (level 7) – University of Brighton
NCFE Cache – Counselling Skills & Theory (level 3) – Brighton MET
NCFE Cache – Helping Skills (level 2) – Brighton MET
PhD – Literature, philosophy, poetry – Cambridge University
MA (Distinction) – Literature, culture, modernity – Queen Mary & Westfield (University of London)
BA (Hons) – Literature and film – University of North London
How I work
I work psychodynamically, with some elements of humanistic and interpersonal approaches. ‘Psychodynamic’ means that we think about how your early life and significant relationships have had an impact on the way you think and feel now. We revisit any experiences that may be troubling you, and we wonder about how they have affected you. Trust, compassion, and ‘meeting you where you are’ are important aspects of our conversation, which means that I will approach you in a warm, relational way. You will not find yourself talking at a blank wall or feeling under pressure to keep thinking what to say.
I offer a free 15-minute phone call for us to have an opening conversation about your needs, and if you decide to find out more, I offer a low-cost first session for us to meet (in person or online) and discuss in more depth your reasons for seeking therapy, your expectations, how I work, and to think about whether you want to continue and on what basis (short-term, fixed number of sessions, open-ended). No obligation. If you decide to continue, our sessions will be weekly at the same time and location (see bottom of page for locations) and will last 50 minutes.
Prices:
15-minute call: free
50-minute discovery session: £15
Full session (50 minutes): £60
Come and find out if it’s for you
No obligation, no need to worry, no need to plan what you are going to say - you can come and ask me anything, just to see if therapy is something that would be good for you.
