My Approach

I work in partnership with each person I see (child or adult), exploring their experiences and internal world together, including what might be happening more unconsciously under the surface.

I am an 'integrative' psychotherapist, which means I don't have a single set way of working, but instead have a suite of tools in my toolbox that I draw upon, depending on what suits an individual at that moment. The approaches I use are informed by arts psychotherapy (drawing, painting, drama, clay, puppets, play, bodywork, music), CBT, Attachment Theory, psychoanalytic theories and neurobiology. Using the arts and metaphor can be a great way of unlocking less verbal, more visual or instinctive parts of the mind or body, working through experiences or feelings that might be impossible to articulate or too overwhelming to face directly. Sometimes children choose to do all of the work in that way, and we work through play. Others prefer to talk about their experiences and reflect on them together. I find that CBT techniques are most effective when combined with some work on what might be causing the difficulties in the first place.

About Me

As a psychotherapist, I work with children of all ages, teenagers and young adults in Central London. I also offer sessions to parents, carers and professionals who want a space to reflect on how to support a child's wellbeing. I'm a passionate believer in creating warm, safe relationships in therapy: therapy can be daunting, and it's so important that you feel you can trust a therapist to really see your unique individuality and to care about you, that that provides the bedrock for all of my work with my clients, child or adult.

All sorts of situations can bring someone of any age to therapy and I love to work with a variety of cases. Examples of difficulties that might bring a child, teenager or young adult to see me include those related to confidence, self-esteem, anxiety, low mood, managing anger, relationships, emotional difficulties associated with neurodiversity, resilience, parental separation, emotional regulation (finding it hard to manage big feelings), the impact of special educational needs, academic pressures, or friendship issues. It goes without saying that I provide a non-judgemental, compassionate space to explore these issues, but we then will take this further: understanding them in new ways and really exploring what it feels like to be you, things that feel stuck can start to shift. Therapy sessions can act as a kind of testing ground to experiment with new ways of being and of relating to someone else, and the perspective that you get from that can enable things outside of the therapy room to change.

Aside from my private practice, I work as a Specialist at the Anna Freud Centre, one of the world's leading mental health charities for children and families. I started working with children and young people in 2009 when I started my career as a teacher, and I also spent 8 years as a civil servant working in the heart of central government. I love music, reading and yoga, and I am a poor but enthusiastic surfer and climber.

I work with

• Children and young people
• Individuals

Types of Therapies Offered

• Integrative Child Psychotherapist