I work with clients in person (also known as face to face therapy) in East Lothian, both indoors and outside via walk-and-talk sessions. I also work with clients online, offering online therapy in a variety of media including webcam, phone, instant messaging and email.

The principle of the therapeutic counselling relationship is the same however you choose to work. I will

• Work with you to develop your own resources that you can draw upon
• Support you to build your resilience in dealing with difficult situations
• Accompany you in building a new perspective on situations or feelings that currently feel out of control or hopeless
• Help you find hope for yourself and for the future.

It’s important that you think you’ll be able to feel comfortable in a relationship with me – and me with you – for us to be able to work together. It might be that our personalities don’t fit, and there’s nothing wrong with that. Having a chat over the phone first may help you decide whether to go ahead.

The relationship between client and therapist is different each time, but we’ll work together to better understand what’s going on for you and to help you to become more aware of where habits of thinking, feeling or behaviour may not be working for you as well now as they have in the past. It’s quite likely that, once you trust me, you’ll repeat your default patterns of relating to people, in the way you relate to me. Talking about this can help us both to better understand and explore your difficulties. I don’t give advice, as such, but I may offer tips or ways for you to think about how you react in certain situations, and for you to develop coping strategies.

I’m a great believer in trusting your instinct – if your gut reaction to the idea of talking about difficult subjects to someone you don’t know, whether in a room or via a Zoom video screen, is ‘I couldn’t do that’, perhaps it would be worth trying phone sessions, or outdoor counselling where we’re walking alongside each other. 

You might find it helpful to consider the questions below, to help you decide which way of working you’d prefer.

• Do you find it difficult to keep regular appointments due to personal circumstances?
• Do you work away a lot?
• Do you like using technology?
• Do you find it difficult to connect to people when you’re dealing with them by phone or email?
• Do you find the idea of someone looking at you while you open up about your deepest fears scary?
• Do you have a medical condition or disability that causes you to get fatigued easily, or struggle to leave the house?
• Do you want the reassurance of knowing that someone is physically there with you when you talk about difficult feelings?
• Do you feel more in control of expressing what you want to say in writing?

You might start with one way of working and then change to another. It’s OK to take convenience into account too, if you simply find it easier to fit an online counselling session into your busy life! Therapy isn’t easy – so why make it harder for yourself to take the opportunity to grow and change?

You can read more about the practicalities – i.e. what happens when you get in touch – in my blog What happens in therapy?