About Me
Integrative relational psychotherapy in Derby and online across the UK
I am an Integrative Relational Developmental Psychotherapist based in Mickleover, Derby. I work with adults in person, close to Littleover, and online with people across the UK.
I hold a Postgraduate Diploma (Level 7) in Integrative Psychotherapy from the Sherwood Psychotherapy Training Institute and have completed an MSc in Integrative Psychotherapy. I am currently awaiting full registration with the UK Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP).
How I work
My training is integrative, although the way I think about therapy is particularly relational and developmental. I am interested in how we become who we are through our relationships, especially our earliest ones, and how those experiences can continue to shape what we expect from ourselves and other people.
The ways we learn to cope often make more sense when we understand where they came from. This might include becoming fiercely independent, worrying about rejection, finding closeness difficult, feeling responsible for other people's emotions or repeatedly finding yourself in relationships that seem to follow a familiar pattern.
I am an engaged therapist and therapy with me is conversational. I listen carefully, ask questions and will sometimes share what I am noticing or wondering about. I am interested in what happens in your life outside therapy and also in what begins to happen between us as our relationship develops.
Humour in therapy
Humour also has a place in my work. My MSc research explored how clients experience humour in psychotherapy and deepened my understanding of how much can be communicated through it. In my work I pay attention to humour as part of the relationship, including when it brings us closer, makes something difficult easier to approach, or seems to offer some protection from what feels more vulnerable. This means laughter can be part of therapy, alongside curiosity about what it might be doing for us in that moment.
Relationships, attachment and neurodivergence
My work draws on relational, developmental, psychodynamic and humanistic psychotherapy. I am particularly interested in attachment, shame, relationships and the ways earlier experiences can become embedded in how we understand ourselves.
This means we might become curious about why a particular reaction feels so powerful, why certain relationships affect you more than others, or why you can understand something intellectually and still find yourself responding in the same familiar way.
I also have a particular interest in ADHD and neurodivergence, including rejection sensitivity dysphoria (RSD). I am interested in these experiences relationally as well as neurodevelopmentally, including the impact of growing up feeling different, misunderstood, criticised or as though you were somehow getting things wrong.
My experience
Alongside private practice, I have worked therapeutically across third-sector services and online settings, supporting people with experiences including anxiety, depression, trauma, shame, low self-worth, relationship difficulties and the continuing effects of difficult early relationships.
My training has involved several years of clinical practice, supervision, personal therapy and academic study. Continuing to think about my own responses, assumptions and limitations is an important part of how I practise.
Starting therapy with me
Finding a counsellor and starting therapy can feel daunting and exposing, especially when you are trying to work out whether someone will feel easy to talk to.
Before we speak, I want you to know that I am grounded and down to earth, and that carries into how I work. I want therapy with me to feel human and approachable, with no sense that you need to speak a certain way, have the right words or know how to ‘do therapy’. I work with people from very different backgrounds and experiences, and it matters to me that whoever walks through the door feels comfortable, respected and able to be themselves.
I offer a FREE initial phone consultation so we can speak before you decide whether you would like to book a session. You can tell me a little about what has brought you to therapy, ask questions about how I work and get some sense of what it might be like for us to work together.
You can find out more about in-person counselling and psychotherapy in Mickleover, Derby or online counselling and psychotherapy across the UK.
Individual therapy: £60 for 50 minutes.