Psychotherapy & Counselling in East Kent

Working with men has become a particular specialism of mine.

Men often arrive in my room because somebody else isn't happy with how things are. And often their reason for coming isn't simply to feel better themselves, but to be better for the people they care about.

Therapy can feel like unfamiliar territory. I won't force you to talk about things before you're ready, or assume I know you better than you know yourself. We'll work at a pace and distance that respects who you are.

The women who come to see me have often chosen me quite deliberately.

They aren't necessarily looking for someone who will simply listen and agree. They want a therapist who will engage with them, ask questions, offer another perspective and, when it's useful, challenge them.

My approach is warm, but active. Acceptance matters, but so does taking seriously who you might become and what might need to change.

Most relationship problems begin somewhere in our differences.

We experience those differences, interpret what they mean, and before long each person can find themselves planted firmly on their side — trying to get the other to come over.

Couples will often tell me, “we're both in the wrong”. I'm usually more interested in beginning with the possibility that you're both in the right. Then we can start understanding how two experiences that make sense separately have become so difficult to hold together.

When a young person comes to therapy, it is usually because a parent has recognised that somebody outside the family might be able to help.

Sometimes being a parent means being too close to what is happening. There is love, worry, hope and an understandable investment in things getting better.

I can offer something different. I can step into a young person's world without needing them to make it more understandable to me, and without deciding in advance who they ought to become.