Understanding Trauma As a counsellor with some education about trauma, I’m witness to the way systemic trauma shapes lives and communities. Trauma is a complex psychological and physiological reaction to deeply distressing or overwhelming events. Fight, flight, freeze, flop, and fawn are all survival strategies, and they play out in our behaviour: fleeing a threat, freezing when powerless, or fawning to keep ourselves safe. Ideally, once the danger passes, we return to safety, and our nervous systems reset. But when threat is constant, such as in war, child abuse, discrimination, or other chronically distressing circumstances, the body can’t fully relax. It stays on alert. Over time, even neutral situations can feel dangerous. Generational Echoes Research shows that trauma can echo through generations — what’s sometimes called intergenerational or transgenerational trauma . Our cells can carry biochemical traces of ancestral pain. Epigenetic studies suggest trauma may influence gene e...

Exploring how therapy can be a gift of trust, shared humanity, and care—beyond privilege. Sometimes we experience painful emotions or troubling thoughts and feel unsure how to cope, who to talk to, or even how to listen to ourselves. In these moments, we may need careful, accurate empathy, non-judgement, and unconditional positive regard from someone who is genuine with us—someone who can help us make sense of our pain. That’s where therapy often helps. A skilled therapist can offer the right conditions to move forward. In the UK, many people access therapy through the NHS. But resources are limited. Most people face long waiting times, receive time-limited therapy, and may not meet therapists who work in the way they most need. Charities and community services offer alternatives, but they too are underfunded. For many, the only remaining option is private therapy—which means self-funding. Some can afford this with ease. Others can't. That’s why I offer a sliding scale of fees to h...

In the world of therapy, words are important—yet what if the deepest healing doesn’t begin with what we say, but with how we feel and experience what’s happening inside our bodies? This is the heart of Focusing , a gentle, profound practice developed by philosopher and psychologist Eugene Gendlin, in close dialogue with the organismic approach of Carl Rogers. It's not about concentrating harder or trying to get it right. It's about listening inwardly, in a certain way—curiously, compassionately, and with trust in our organism's knowing. Carl Rogers and the Seeds of Inner Wisdom Carl Rogers, founder of the Person-Centred Approach, believed deeply in the innate tendency of all beings to grow towards wholeness when conditions are right—what he called the actualising tendency . He placed radical trust in the client’s capacity to heal when met with empathy, congruence, and unconditional positive regard. Yet Rogers also noticed that not all clients benefited equally from ther...

 Life is complex. No one is untouched by struggle. We are all likely to go through personal loss, systemic pressures, self-doubt, or the deep sense that something is missing in our lives. However, I still believe that we are all still capable of living a contented, satisfying life. And, I believe it is possible to thrive, even after adversity. Growing up in a working-class community, I witnessed firsthand how economic struggle, addiction, and trauma tear through people's lives, and I have not been unscathed. Furthermore, as a queer and neurodivergent therapist, I witness the the struggle for acceptance and affirmation of our belonging and capacities to live well. Many of us are brokenhearted from living in ideological and capitalist systems that disconnect us from ourselves, each other, and the nature we are a part of. Typically, the people who seek therapy with me are LGBTQIA+, neurodivergent, creative, or deep thinkers who want to express and develop themselves and their work and...

An Introduction to My Holistic Philosophy   Therapeutic change is neither something done to someone, nor something that happens in isolation. It happens in relationship —through presence, trust, safety, and connection. This isn’t just a personal belief. Systematic reviews and meta-analyses consistently show that the most significant factor in successful therapy is the quality of the relationship between therapist and client—not the specific modality or technique. We are relational beings. At its heart, therapy is about restoring and deepening relationship—with the Self, with others, and with the living world; the "whole" of life. The term "holistic" comes from the same root as "healing" meaning "to become whole". The 21 principles that follow express the holistic perspective from which I offer my work. They’re not a method or a promise, but a way of seeing —rooted in gentleness, curiosity, dignity, and love. We are relational and ecologica...

The following is an old Taoist parable, here translated by Paul Reps (Zen Flesh, Zen Bones, New York: Anchor/Doubleday, 1958, pages 22–23).  ~ A man travelling across a field encountered a tiger.  He fled, the tiger after him.  Coming to a precipice, he caught hold of the root of a wild vine and swung himself down over the edge.  The tiger sniffed at him from above.  Trembling, the man looked down to where, far below, another tiger was waiting to eat him.  Only the vine sustained him.  Two mice, one white and one black, little by little started to gnaw away at the vine.  The man saw a luscious strawberry near him.  Grasping the vine with one hand, he plucked the strawberry with the other.  How sweet it tasted! ~ Strawberry by Justus Menke