What often brings people to therapy
You might have a clear sense of what’s wrong — perhaps you’re struggling with anxiety, low mood, addiction, or the impact of past experiences. If so, you can read more about some of the common difficulties I work with by expanding the sections below.
Or you might not be sure what’s going on, but feel drawn to therapy itself — curious about how it works, or whether a particular approach might be helpful. If that sounds closer to your experience, you can explore the therapeutic approach I use in my work.
You don’t need to have everything figured out to begin.
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You might find yourself constantly on edge—overthinking, scanning for danger, or carrying a tightness that never quite leaves your body. Anxiety can show up in many ways: general worry, panic attacks, phobias, social fear, obsessive thoughts. However it appears, it can start to control your life.
Often, anxiety works as a kind of protection—an attempt to eliminate uncertainty or avoid emotional risk. It can be a defence against this vulnerability, where the aim is to stay safe by staying in control. But the harder we try to control everything; the louder anxiety tends to get. In therapy, we can explore what your anxiety is trying to guard against, and how you might begin to feel safer without needing to keep everything so tightly held.
You don’t have to keep living like this. Anxiety tends to grow when left unchallenged—but it can also soften when given space, attention, and understanding.
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You might feel like the colour has drained out of your life. Everything takes more effort than it should. You go through the motions, but nothing quite lands. Sometimes there’s sadness, but just as often there’s numbness, emptiness, or a sense of being disconnected—from others, from yourself, from what used to matter.
Depression can quietly convince you that you're the problem—that you’re not good enough, that nothing will change, that you should be doing better. These beliefs often take root when you’ve had to keep going without real support. In therapy, we can start to name what’s been pushed down or dismissed and understand where those beliefs came from—not to stay stuck there, but to loosen their hold on you.
This isn’t about fixing you. It’s about creating space to reconnect with what matters, and to feel more alive again.
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Do you find yourself reaching for something—anything—that helps you manage how you’re feeling? That might be alcohol, gaming, porn, food, or something else entirely. On the surface, these behaviours can look very different—but underneath, the struggle is often the same: trying to cope with pain, shame, or the feeling that you’re not enough as you are.
Addiction isn’t about weakness or lack of willpower. It often forms when you’ve learned—consciously or not—that turning inward doesn’t feel safe. So you reach outward, again and again, to manage what feels unbearable. In therapy, we can explore this pattern with care and curiosity, without judgement. We can begin to understand what the addiction has been protecting you from, and what it’s been trying to help you survive.
This work isn’t just about stopping the behaviour. It’s about reconnecting with the parts of yourself you’ve had to cut off in order to cope.
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You might still be carrying the effects of something that happened long ago—or something that’s still happening now. Sometimes trauma comes from a single event, and sometimes from a series of experiences that have slowly worn down your sense of safety, self-worth, or control. Either way, the impact can live on in your body, your thoughts, your relationships, and your ability to feel at ease.
You may not always call it trauma. You might just feel jumpy, numb, hyper-aware, shut down, or like you’re constantly bracing for something. These are not flaws. They are responses that made sense at the time. Together, we can begin to understand how those responses formed—and how to loosen their grip, at a pace that feels manageable.
Therapy can offer a space to rebuild trust—both in others and in yourself. We begin from where you are.
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You might feel unsure of who you are, or like you’ve been living according to who others needed you to be. Maybe you’ve shaped yourself to fit in, to avoid conflict, or to live up to expectations—and now you’re left feeling disconnected from your own voice.
This sense of disconnection can show up in many ways: uncertainty in relationships, difficulty making decisions, or the feeling that you’re performing rather than living. It can be confusing, even frightening, to realise you’ve lost touch with your own sense of self.
Therapy can help you explore the parts of yourself you’ve muted, hidden, or never had the chance to discover. Together we can begin the work of reconnecting—with your needs, values, boundaries, and hopes—so that life starts to feel more like your own.
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Grief often arrives as a profound disruption to the story you were living. Someone or something important is gone, and the life you expected to continue can no longer be taken for granted. Alongside sadness, grief can bring disorientation, anger, numbness, guilt, or a sense that the world no longer feels familiar.
Loss doesn’t only affect how you feel; it can unsettle your sense of identity, your relationships, and your values. You may find yourself questioning who you are now, how you relate to others, or what matters in the absence of what has been lost. At times, people feel stuck — unable to move forward, but also unable to return to how things were before.
There is no correct way to grieve. While stage-based models are widely known, most people’s experience is far more uneven and personal. Grief doesn’t move in a straight line, and it doesn’t follow a timetable. In therapy, we can make space for what your loss means for you, and explore how to continue living while carrying what has been lost.
You don’t need to rush this process or do it alone. Grief can feel isolating, but when it is met with attention and care, it can gradually become something that is integrated, rather than something that stops life altogether.
Where to begin
You might arrive knowing what’s wrong, or just sensing that something isn’t right. A diagnosis isn’t required, and labels rarely tell the whole story.
The sections below outline common themes I work with. They’re reference points, not definitions. You don’t need to fit neatly into one to begin.
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You might find yourself constantly on edge—overthinking, scanning for danger, or carrying a tightness that never quite leaves your body. Anxiety can show up in many ways: general worry, panic attacks, phobias, social fear, obsessive thoughts. However it appears, it can start to control your life.
Often, anxiety works as a kind of protection—an attempt to eliminate uncertainty or avoid emotional risk. It can be a defence against this vulnerability, where the aim is to stay safe by staying in control. But the harder we try to control everything; the louder anxiety tends to get. In therapy, we can explore what your anxiety is trying to guard against, and how you might begin to feel safer without needing to keep everything so tightly held.
You don’t have to keep living like this. Anxiety tends to grow when left unchallenged—but it can also soften when given space, attention, and understanding.
-
You might feel like the colour has drained out of your life. Everything takes more effort than it should. You go through the motions, but nothing quite lands. Sometimes there’s sadness, but just as often there’s numbness, emptiness, or a sense of being disconnected—from others, from yourself, from what used to matter.
Depression can quietly convince you that you're the problem—that you’re not good enough, that nothing will change, that you should be doing better. These beliefs often take root when you’ve had to keep going without real support. In therapy, we can start to name what’s been pushed down or dismissed and understand where those beliefs came from—not to stay stuck there, but to loosen their hold on you.
This isn’t about fixing you. It’s about creating space to reconnect with what matters, and to feel more alive again.
-
Do you find yourself reaching for something—anything—that helps you manage how you’re feeling? That might be alcohol, gaming, porn, food, or something else entirely. On the surface, these behaviours can look very different—but underneath, the struggle is often the same: trying to cope with pain, shame, or the feeling that you’re not enough as you are.
Addiction isn’t about weakness or lack of willpower. It often forms when you’ve learned—consciously or not—that turning inward doesn’t feel safe. So you reach outward, again and again, to manage what feels unbearable. In therapy, we can explore this pattern with care and curiosity, without judgement. We can begin to understand what the addiction has been protecting you from, and what it’s been trying to help you survive.
This work isn’t just about stopping the behaviour. It’s about reconnecting with the parts of yourself you’ve had to cut off in order to cope.
-
You might still be carrying the effects of something that happened long ago—or something that’s still happening now. Sometimes trauma comes from a single event, and sometimes from a series of experiences that have slowly worn down your sense of safety, self-worth, or control. Either way, the impact can live on in your body, your thoughts, your relationships, and your ability to feel at ease.
You may not always call it trauma. You might just feel jumpy, numb, hyper-aware, shut down, or like you’re constantly bracing for something. These are not flaws. They are responses that made sense at the time. Together, we can begin to understand how those responses formed—and how to loosen their grip, at a pace that feels manageable.
Therapy can offer a space to rebuild trust—both in others and in yourself. We begin from where you are.
-
You might feel unsure of who you are, or like you’ve been living according to who others needed you to be. Maybe you’ve shaped yourself to fit in, to avoid conflict, or to live up to expectations—and now you’re left feeling disconnected from your own voice.
This sense of disconnection can show up in many ways: uncertainty in relationships, difficulty making decisions, or the feeling that you’re performing rather than living. It can be confusing, even frightening, to realise you’ve lost touch with your own sense of self.
Therapy can help you explore the parts of yourself you’ve muted, hidden, or never had the chance to discover. Together we can begin the work of reconnecting—with your needs, values, boundaries, and hopes—so that life starts to feel more like your own.
-
Grief often arrives as a profound disruption to the story you were living. Someone or something important is gone, and the life you expected to continue can no longer be taken for granted. Alongside sadness, grief can bring disorientation, anger, numbness, guilt, or a sense that the world no longer feels familiar.
Loss doesn’t only affect how you feel; it can unsettle your sense of identity, your relationships, and your values. You may find yourself questioning who you are now, how you relate to others, or what matters in the absence of what has been lost. At times, people feel stuck — unable to move forward, but also unable to return to how things were before.
There is no correct way to grieve. While stage-based models are widely known, most people’s experience is far more uneven and personal. Grief doesn’t move in a straight line, and it doesn’t follow a timetable. In therapy, we can make space for what your loss means for you, and explore how to continue living while carrying what has been lost.
You don’t need to rush this process or do it alone. Grief can feel isolating, but when it is met with attention and care, it can gradually become something that is integrated, rather than something that stops life altogether.
If you don’t see yourself reflected here
It’s common for people to feel uncertain when reading lists of difficulties like these. Many people don’t arrive with a clear diagnosis, and others find that labels don’t fully capture what they’re living with. Psychological difficulties are rarely neat or singular. They overlap, evolve, and are shaped by context, relationships, and life history.
The areas outlined on this page are intended as reference points, not definitions. They describe themes I frequently work with, not categories you need to fit into. What matters more is whether something in the way these difficulties are described resonates with you, and whether my approach feels like it might be helpful.
If you’re unsure whether your situation belongs here, that uncertainty is often a useful place to begin. By creating a profile, you can send me a secure message and, if helpful, book a free 10-minute consultation to ask questions, clarify what you’re looking for, and find out more about how I work.
If you don’t see yourself reflected here
Many people feel uncertain when reading lists like these. You might not have a clear diagnosis, or you may find that labels don’t fully capture what you’re dealing with. Difficulties often overlap and change, rather than fitting neatly into one category.
The areas outlined on this page are reference points, not definitions. What matters more is whether something in the way these difficulties are described resonates with you, and whether my approach feels helpful.
If you’re unsure whether your situation belongs here, that uncertainty can be a reasonable place to begin. By creating a profile, you can send me a secure message and, if helpful, book a free 10-minute consultation to ask questions and find out more about how I work.
Working within my competence
Part of ethical practice is being clear about the work I am best placed to offer, and about its limits. I work most effectively where my training, clinical experience, and ongoing professional development align. Staying within these boundaries helps ensure the work is safe and clinically sound.
My practice is for adults aged 18 and over. There are areas I do not currently work with, including active psychosis and situations that require intensive, crisis-level, or inpatient support. These presentations often benefit from more specialist or multidisciplinary care than I am able to provide in private practice.
I also do not provide detoxification or acute substance withdrawal support. Where drug or alcohol use is part of the picture, my work is psychological, focusing on the emotional, relational, and behavioural aspects involved, alongside appropriate medical support provided elsewhere.
If it becomes clear that another form of help would be more appropriate, or that your needs exceed the limits of online therapy, this would be discussed openly and early. Where possible, I would support you in considering suitable alternatives. Working within competence is not about exclusion, but about offering therapy that is responsible, transparent, and properly resourced.
Working within my competence
Part of ethical practice is being clear about the work I am best placed to offer, and about its limits. I work most effectively where my training, clinical experience, and ongoing professional development align. Staying within these boundaries helps ensure the work is safe and clinically sound.
My practice is for adults aged 18 and over. There are areas I do not currently work with, including active psychosis and situations that require intensive, crisis-level, or inpatient support. These presentations are often better supported through more specialist or multidisciplinary services.
I also do not provide detoxification or acute substance withdrawal support. Where drug or alcohol use is part of the picture, my work is psychological, focusing on emotional, relational, and behavioural patterns, alongside appropriate medical care provided elsewhere.
If it becomes clear that another form of help would be more appropriate, or that your needs exceed the limits of online therapy, this would be discussed openly and early. Working within competence is not about exclusion, but about offering therapy that is responsible, transparent, and properly resourced.