AREAS OF SUPPORT
People come to counselling with different experiences, and it is not always immediately clear how to describe what is happening.
You may already recognise a particular pattern, or you may simply know that something in a relationship, your history, or the way you are responding now is having an impact.
These are some of the areas I commonly work with.
Emotional Abuse & Relationship Trauma
Emotional and psychological abuse can be difficult to recognise, particularly when there has been gaslighting, coercive control or a gradual erosion of confidence.
You may find yourself replaying conversations, questioning your perceptions, or struggling with self-doubt long after the relationship has ended.
Therapy can help you make sense of what happened, understand its impact, and begin rebuilding trust in your own judgement and responses.
Attachment & Relationship Patterns
You might notice patterns in relationships that repeat, even when you want something different.
Perhaps you become anxious when there’s distance, or find yourself over-explaining, over-giving, or trying to keep things steady at your own expense. At other times, you might pull away or feel overwhelmed by closeness.
Together, we begin to understand these patterns, not as flaws, but as responses that made sense at some point, and slowly create space for something different.
Trauma & the Nervous System
Trauma can continue to affect the body and nervous system long after the original experience is over.
You may feel hypervigilant, easily overwhelmed, shut down, disconnected or confused by reactions that seem stronger than the present situation warrants.
Therapy can help you understand these responses, develop greater regulation and, where appropriate, work more directly with distressing memories and trauma responses.
Family Estrangement & Difficult Family Dynamics
Family relationships can carry a particular kind of weight.
You might be navigating distance or estrangement, feeling the tension between wanting connection and needing to protect yourself. There can be grief, guilt, or a sense of being caught between different parts of yourself.
This space allows room for that complexity, without rushing you toward decisions, and without assuming what the “right” outcome should be.
→ Read about family estrangement and complex family relationships
Shame, Identity & Self-Worth
Some people arrive not quite sure who they are anymore or wondering if they ever really knew.
Shame has a way of making itself feel like a fact about you rather than something that happened to you. It can show up as a relentless inner critic, difficulty believing good things are really for you, or a sense of having to manage how you appear to others.
This work is about slowly separating what is true from what was taught and rebuilding a sense of self that doesn't depend on other people's approval or perception.
Childhood Trauma & Emotionally Immature Parents
Not all difficult childhoods are obviously painful. Sometimes it was quieter than that, emotional absence, inconsistency, or having to grow up in ways that were never yours to carry.
You might have been the one who kept things steady, who didn't cause trouble, who managed. And you might only now be beginning to understand what that cost.
This work looks at where certain patterns began and what it means to start putting down what was never really yours to hold.
→ Read more about childhood trauma and family of origin wounds
These areas often overlap, and you do not need to fit neatly into one category before beginning therapy. Part of the work can be understanding how different experiences, relationships and patterns connect.
Or, if you’re ready to begin: