I currently offer counselling and Focusing sessions in Cockenzie (East Lothian). I work online with clients anywhere in the world, except for North America. For outdoor counselling sessions we’ll meet in Port Seton, East Lothian, and walk or wheel from there. 

At the heart of counselling is two human beings talking to each other. What we talk about will vary greatly depending on why you’ve got in touch and what you see as the ‘problem’. Sometimes talking about the past, or about your story, will feel most important, sometimes we’ll focus on your life right now and how you can make changes. Check out my blog What happens in therapy if you’d like to know more about the practicalities of first sessions and what to expect. 

One of the most important factors in effective therapy is the relationship between the client and the therapist, and sometimes establishing a trusting relationship between us can be a hugely important part of what helps you to make changes, if trust and security in relationship is something that you’ve found difficult in the past. We’ll focus on changes that you want to make – either changes to your life or changes in your attitude to yourself. I’ll help you better understand where your thoughts, feelings and behaviours come from with a focus of ‘what happened to you’ rather than ‘what’s wrong with you’, which will support you to have a more compassionate attitude towards yourself. My blog What happens in therapy – how does counselling promote change talks about this in more detail.  

I offer counselling and Inner Relationship Focusing. Counselling works by helping you better understand yourself in a safe, secure relationship with someone who accepts you just as you are, and the relationship between us is key to that. With Focusing, it’s less important that I understand your story.  The emphasis in Focusing is on your relationship with yourself – my role is to teach you to listen to the different parts of yourself as if they were your ‘clients’.  I suggest that you read about the different services in Work with me and see what your gut reaction is. I’m a big believe in trusting your inner sense. 

I operate a 48-hr cancellation policy, which means if you need to cancel a session within that time, the full fee is payable. This applies even if you’re ill – I’m still unable to fill a space at such short notice. However, if we can agree a session time for later in the same week, we can reschedule instead. If you have a health condition or disability that might have an impact on your being able to attend sessions regularly, please let me know when you get in touch so that we can discuss how I might accommodate this. 

If something about my website has touched something in you, that’s a good sign. Have a look at the video on my About me page and see if you think you’d feel able to open up to me. Trust your gut to see if you think we’ll make a good fit. It may be that when you get in touch, I might decide that I don’t have the relevant skills or experience for the particular issue that you’re wanting help with, in which case I’ll be upfront about that. And, I’ll check out with you at the end of our first session together how it’s been, and whether you want to continue. I don’t expect you to commit to a certain number of sessions so you can choose to end at any time if something doesn’t feel right. 

I generally recommend weekly sessions, particularly when we first start working together, as it helps us to build a trusting relationship and to build up momentum. I normally suggest six sessions initially, with a review in session 6. However, I do understand that weekly sessions don’t work for everyone – some people feel they need more time to process – and also that not everyone can afford weekly therapy. So I’m always happy to talk about how and when we work together. 

How long is a piece of string? It really depends on who you are, and on why you’ve got in touch. You might find that you feel better after the very first session – especially if you’ve been holding something in that you need to just get out. The experience of having your feelings validated can be very powerful, and after a very few sessions you may already have more understanding of yourself. Often clients get in touch for one reason, but after the initial crisis has eased they decide that they want to continue counselling because they’ve started to value themselves more and want to focus on their personal growth and flourishing. The decision of when to end is up to you, although it’s really helpful (for both of us) if we can talk about it.  

If you think I’m the right therapist for you, but you’re not sure if you’re going to be able to afford my standard fee, please get in touch. I sometimes have lower-fee sessions available, although as this is my livelihood these are limited.

You may also be able to find low-cost services. In Edinburgh these include Physis and PF Counselling ; or in East Lothian try Changes .