What is Counselling / Psychotherapy?

All counsellors and psychotherapists use active listening skills, reflecting back to you things that stand out, questioning or asking you to say more about things that merit a deeper dive. I will empathise with you and challenge you where necessary.

Counselling, psychotherapy and therapy are terms often used interchangeably. All refer to the process of structured, confidential discussions in which a client explores issues that they are struggling to resolve in their life, and which are impacting their emotional, and sometimes physical, wellbeing. However, psychotherapists are trained at a deeper level to work with more complicated issues such as complex childhood trauma, and with the subconscious at the root of emotional and behavioural patterns.

It’s my job as a therapist to provide a safe space, so that you feel able to talk openly and honestly, even about the most challenging aspects of your life, trusting that you will be fully heard without judgement.

Do I need counselling/psychotherapy?

If you are struggling with difficult feelings or a situation that you perhaps find overwhelming and cannot seem to find resolution around, working on them with a counsellor/psychotherapist will give you the support you need to move forward.

How is counselling different from talking to a close friend?

Reading this, you might think that a good friend or close member of your family can provide the same support that a psychotherapist offers. However, there’s a tangibly different quality to the nature of a formal therapeutic relationship. As a psychotherapist, I’m not emotionally involved in your life and have no agenda other than to support you which means I can offer you a totally objective viewpoint. The content of our discussions is confidential and there’s a clear structure to our sessions which helps with focus, attention and change.

‘Katrina helped me understand myself a lot better and reframe my thought process on certain topics. Our time together really made a difference to my day to thinking which in turn has relieved a lot of my anxieties’

- Ellie -

Why do people come to see me?

The top key words searched by people looking for therapy help in the UK are: anxiety, depression, ADHD, low self-esteem and family issues. Here are some of the reasons people come to me and the main issues I work with:

  • Most people know what anxiety feels like, but healthy anxiety passes once the presenting problem is resolved. The kind of anxiety which persists and dominates thoughts is a common response to shocking or distressing experiences, or can develop as a ‘generalised anxiety’ response to feeling out of control in life.

    Physical symptoms of acute anxiety include:

    • Difficult getting to sleep and/or early morning waking

    • Speeding up heartbeat and palpitations

    • Light-headedness and loss of feeling in the body

    • Loss of appetite

    Distractedness and inability to focus and make decisions.

    Therapy can help you to explore the causes of your anxiety and also give you skills to better manage your anxiety both in the moment and long term.

  • Most people know what anxiety feels like, but healthy anxiety passes once the presenting problem is resolved. The kind of anxiety which persists and dominates thoughts is a common response to shocking or distressing experiences, or can develop as a ‘generalised anxiety’ response to feeling out of control in life.

    Physical symptoms of acute anxiety include:

    • Difficult getting to sleep and/or early morning waking

    • Speeding up heartbeat and palpitations

    • Light-headedness and loss of feeling in the body

    • Loss of appetite

    Distractedness and inability to focus and make decisions.

    Therapy can help you to explore the causes of your anxiety and also give you skills to better manage your anxiety both in the moment and long term.

  • Clinical depression is a seriously debilitating illness that affects one’s body, mood, behaviour and thoughts. One of the cruellest symptoms of depression is self-criticism and sufferers believing they are being weak and should be able to ‘snap out of it’. Clinical depression is difficult to resolve alone. Physical symptoms of clinical depression, which are often the clear signs that it is time to take the illness seriously, include:

    Difficult getting to sleep, staying asleep and/or early morning waking

    Changes in appretite from normal, either wanting to each much less or overeating

    Mental and physical lethargy

    Withdrawing socially and from loved ones

    Loss of interest in things previously enjoyed

    Turning to alcohol, drugs or other addictive behaviours as a coping mechanism.

    Therapy can help you to explore the root causes of your depression and give you skills to help you to move forward.

  • Clinical depression is a seriously debilitating illness that affects one’s body, mood, behaviour and thoughts. One of the cruellest symptoms of depression is self-criticism and sufferers believing they are being weak and should be able to ‘snap out of it’. Clinical depression is difficult to resolve alone. Physical symptoms of clinical depression, which are often the clear signs that it is time to take the illness seriously, include:

    Difficult getting to sleep, staying asleep and/or early morning waking

    Changes in appretite from normal, either wanting to each much less or overeating

    Mental and physical lethargy

    Withdrawing socially and from loved ones

    Loss of interest in things previously enjoyed

    Turning to alcohol, drugs or other addictive behaviours as a coping mechanism.

    Therapy can help you to explore the root causes of your depression and give you skills to help you to move forward.

  • Both individual and couples counselling can help you improve the way you relate to those around you and allow you to break free from old patterns of behaviour that are no longer getting you what you want and need in life.

    Therapy can offer you new ways to look at old problems with others as well as within yourself. It can help you to improve the way you communicate with other people and work on understanding destructive patterns that you might be repeating so that you can move towards more positive relationships.

  • Both individual and couples counselling can help you improve the way you relate to those around you and allow you to break free from old patterns of behaviour that are no longer getting you what you want and need in life.

    Therapy can offer you new ways to look at old problems with others as well as within yourself. It can help you to improve the way you communicate with other people and work on understanding destructive patterns that you might be repeating so that you can move towards more positive relationships.

I started training in 2006 and have both a postgraduate diploma in Integrative Psychotherapy using the Arts (Distinction) and an Advanced Diploma in Integrative Counselling (Level 4)

My clients come to me with a range of issues that they want to explore, understand and find a way through. These include anxiety, depression, self-esteem, complex trauma such as childhood abuse, relationship issues, loss and bereavement.