Frequently Asked Questions

The support I provide is delivered with a targeted and practical approach.

I pride myself in being able to quickly identify and isolate the specific issues that are causing you concern, and am able to address those quickly and efficiently.

Although the healing process should never be rushed, I remain guided by you in your own journey.

Sessions may also be staggered further apart fortnightly. In this way, the healing approach is extended without reducing any effectiveness, but affordability is increased to around £300 per month.

I do my best to be available outside of regular working hours to make therapy as accessible as possible for you. I do not increase my fees for peak-time/after-hours appointments.

Appointments are usually available:

Tuesday – Thursday: 15:00 – 22:00 (23:30 finish)
Saturday / Sunday / Bank Holidays: Available on request for emergencies

You may Schedule Your Free Phone Consultation here.

Due to the privacy concerns of my clients, I work online, by phone, or by email only.

I understand that scheduling doesn’t always work out. If you might not be able to make an appointment, please let me know as soon as possible so that we can reschedule a more convenient time.

A psychiatrist is a person who trained as a medical doctor and specialised in psychiatry. That generally means that they specialise in the prescription of medication and hospitalisation of patients.

A psychotherapist is a talking therapist and will focus on practical ways to understand your context and circumstances, and help you work through issues with new ways of thinking and understanding. Psychotherapists will also help you evaluate your emotions and gain much greater control over the type and extent of the emotions that you’re feeling. Psychotherapists specialise in the practical application of improving thinking and emotional mechanisms through the use of carefully considered questions.

A psychosexual therapist (aka sex therapist or sexologist) is an experienced talking therapist who also studies issues that surround gender, sex, and sexuality. We aim to understand the psychological impacts of sex, orientation, gender, and any surrounding challenges. The goal of a psychosexual therapist will be to help you enrich not only your life in general but also to find balance and happiness in the relationship and sexual dimensions of your life.

We live in a world where we’re always expected to perform at peak capacity. How many times have you been on Facebook or Instagram and seen seemingly perfect photos of seemingly perfect lives? We’ve all been tempted to show off just a little to make it seem like things are just that tad more colourful than they actually are.

We’re ‘supposed’ to be a lot of things—’supposed’ to be always-attractive, financially flush, sexually desired, romantically elevated, and professionally successful. Above all, we’re ‘supposed’ to be so independent that we shouldn’t be seen taking advice or counsel, lest we are judged by our peers from the glasshouses of ‘likes’, ‘comments’, and hashtags. But what happens when Humpty goes smackdown?

I often hear clients say that they weren’t sure whether to seek support because ‘couples should fix relationships between themselves’. If you’re single and lonely, it’s because there’s something wrong with you, isn’t there? Partner unfaithful? Leave, or suck it up. Painful sex? Have a tablet. Erectile dysfunction? Have a tablet. Depressed? Apparently, everybody should be on anti-depressants. Quick fixes for a slow meltdown.

It’s quite understandable to anyone should you need to see an accountant to mull over your taxes or a doctor for a broken leg. But who do you see for a broken heart? And what happens when you can’t ‘shake off’ low moods with a jog and a cup of tea? How much stress should you really handle, and at what point does that glass of wine become self-prescribed support against anxiety?

The idea that medical issues are acceptably treated by doctors, but psychological or relationship problems should be dealt with in private silence should be removed from society. I don’t know any couple who got into pregnancy themselves and say “we’ll deal with delivery and birth ourselves too”. I hear time and time again that seeing as we can get ourselves into relationships and bad moods, we should deal with them in the same way. This is the insidious trap that clouds over anyone who tries to take their mental health seriously.

It is absolutely the case that a bad therapist will most certainly cause harm and havoc in the happiest of minds. But it is also undoubtedly true that a skilled counsellor will make all the difference between a fractured past and a bright future.

Whether you’re single or in a relationship, in your heart, you know when you need help. The question isn’t whether, it’s how long you choose to wait to be happy again.

I am here to support you and/or your partner(s) through your journey to heightened happiness. Though I can’t provide a fixed amount of time, support for individuals usually concludes in 8-12 x 50-minute sessions. Couples sessions usually take a little longer, depending on the number of partners and circumstances, and averages around 10-15 x 50-minute sessions.

I will only advise that we conclude our work when you are in agreement and when I’m sure that the changes we’ve made will persist.

If, for any reason, we need to extend and you’re worried about affordability, please let me know, and I’ll do my best to work with you to keep it affordable.

In order to achieve the best results, I recommend that we have a session at least once every two weeks. We can also customise your sessions around a different frequency should you wish to have them more regularly.

John Donne said, “No man is an island”.

Nor is any emotion or human connection. In our work to focus on the specific issues you’d like to address, it’s inevitable that other connected problems will present themselves. Some obstacles are simpler to deconstruct, while others require a little more elbow grease.

It’s best to focus on the topics and feelings that seem most pertinent to you at the time in the context of our conversations. How the issues are connected within your own mind and how we address them will form the basis of your road to achieving your goals. In the event of couples therapy, we’ll have both individual and couple sessions to make sure the support is balanced, impartial, and useful.

I work across four primary areas: couples therapy, sex therapy, talking therapy, and coaching. Rather than viewing these as different areas, I prefer to see the person as a whole that is more than the sum of these parts. Your goals will likely fall more specifically in one of these areas, but to achieve them, we can comfortably navigate the others as we need to.

If I feel your issue at hand might be better supported elsewhere, I’ll discuss this with you and point you towards other potential resources.

In my practice, I focus on four aspects of counselling:

* Couples/Relationship Counselling
* Sex Therapy
* Talking therapy
* Coaching

My approach is pragmatic and includes not only questions directed at you, but also assistance in forming an achievable and practical plan—one that can be accomplished across a realistic space of time. I offer support based on my experience, both from work and my own life. I eliminate the psycho-babble. I also utilise a combination of strategies we will customise around what works best for you as a unique individual.

My goal is to help you achieve rewarding relationships, fulfilling sex, balanced thinking and emotions, and to achieve the goals you set in your life.

The terms I use are descriptively neutral. I encourage you to use terms that you find not only comfortable, but also most descriptive of your thoughts and feelings.

The short answer is ‘Yes, Absolutely’.

I will never judge or ridicule. I believe that our humanity is our greatest asset, that love is our greatest gift, and that our sexuality is our greatest celebration. I’m neither afraid nor ashamed of this belief, and my goal is to help you reach a place of pride and happiness, as you define it.

The quasi-distance of video/phone/chat/email therapy, along with the added privacy of being able to do it from the safety of your home (or another safe space) are two very significant reasons that many clients prefer online therapy.

My preference is always to work via video calls, but we can customise your therapy to your exact needs. If you’d prefer phone calls, text chat, or emails instead, they are all effective and suitable for our purposes.

Absolutely. My clients hail from every gender identity and sexual orientation. I have extensive experience counselling LGBTQIA+ individuals and couples, and identify as part of the community myself. Clients from all gender identities, sexual orientations, and relationship configurations are welcome and respected.

I will not divulge your information unless required by law in the form of a court order.

In all other cases, your identity and payment information are kept in confidence.

When speaking with you, I will always be in a secure space outside the sight or earshot of anyone else. Please note that texts and emails are NOT considered secure methods of communication.

After our initial history session, I might suggest that you (and/or your partner(s)) may want to seek the assistance of a medical professional.

Please note that I am not a medical doctor or licensed clinical psychologist and cannot make any diagnosis for clinical use, or provide clinical therapy. Should you experience any concerns in which you require medical, psychiatric, or immediate care, please reach out to your family doctor, psychiatrist, or Emergency Room.

I don’t necessarily need to see partners as part of therapy.

Many of my clients are single. Others are in relationships but require individual counselling. Yet others don’t think their partners would be willing to join them in therapy. I would always recommend that all partners in a relationship attend couples therapy together, but if that isn’t possible, we can still do a lot of work individually.

Where only one partner embarks on the counselling journey without the cooperation of the other(s), it’s my experience that it’s almost always the case that the effects of therapy on the individual person are so positive that the other partner(s) eventually joins spontaneously.

Misery doesn’t love company. Happiness does.

Nobody can (or should) be ‘made to go’ to therapy. One is ready when you’re ready, and you’ll know in your heart when that is.

Should your partner(s) not be ready or willing to join you in therapy doesn’t at all mean that you can’t reap the benefits. In my experience, it’s almost always the case that the positive effects of therapy on the individual are so significant, that their partner(s) eventually join spontaneously.

Because I see most of my clients online via webcam, therapy is available to you wherever you have a private space that has an internet connection.

In order to assist clients with hearing or sight difficulties, I provide options for therapy via text chat or telephone calls, respectively.

Please let me know of any accessibility requirements you have, and I’ll do my best to assist.

Yes. I will not divulge your information unless required by law in the form of a court order.

In all other cases, your identity and payment information are kept in confidence.

If you feel that you require talking therapy, please feel free to contact me directly.

I do however recommend that your family doctor is always included in your full health overview, including talking therapy.