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Email me for my most up to date availability

Hello - I’m Alex (she/ her). My aim is to offer a space for people to reflect and make sense of what is currently happening for them - either 'here and now' or in previous experiences that have led them to this point.

I am especially passionate about access to therapy and recognise that, in the UK, navigating counselling and psychotherapy can feel unnecessarily complex, stigmatising and expensive; often with long waiting lists. I offer a 'sliding scale' fee and reserve some space for low cost sessions each week which I hope offers more opportunity for people to find support who may otherwise be priced-out of help (see more below on fees).

To help you understand a bit more about what therapy is, I also host a podcast which facilitates conversations with mental health professionals, sign-posting listeners to options for support. These are pretty open conversations and, while therapy is clearly a tremendously serious topic, I believe that talking about it releases the stigma and sometimes a sprinkling of humour can help the process too.

You can find episodes of The Waitlist Podcast here, on Spotify and on Apple Music: https://www.thewaitlistpodcast.com/

Fees:

- In-person (Colchester): £50 per session

- Sliding-scale fee (low cost): Starting at £20 per session, based on your financial circumstances 

I will begin by understanding where you are today and what brings you to therapy now. Together, we will agree what your goals are and create a space to explore how you can move towards these.

My aim is to work with people in plain language and support people to take ownership of their own change and awareness.

Some people find more detail around a therapist's approach helpful.

I am informed by my training, which focuses on three pillars within psychotherapy:

1. Person Centred: a non-directive approach which fosters a supportive environment to facilitate the individual's self-discovery and growth.

2. Gestalt: this approach aims to integrate fragmented aspects of the self into a cohesive whole. It is primarily focused on an individual's present experience, including body awareness and taking responsibility in-the-moment.

3. Transactional Analysis: this is more psycho-educational and directional. It reviews how our communication-style can establish patterns (helpful or unhelpful) with the way we experience the world.

All three approaches integrate with the underpinning that self-awareness and an empathetic environment can help people overcome experiences and grow.

My training qualifications:

I am a Humanistic Psychotherapeutic Counsellor (Diploma Level 6) and a trainee Humanistic Psychotherapist (MSc Level 7, once fully qualified). 

Initial call:

Finding the right therapist can sometimes feel a bit daunting, which is why I offer a 15-minute call so we can establish if I am the right fit for you. This includes whether you feel like we can build a relationship together through our work and whether I believe I have the correct level and type of experience to support you. We can also chat through whether this is your first time in therapy, what you could expect it to be like working with me; and, importantly, what you’d like to get from therapy.

First session:

If you decide you would like us to work together, we will spend the first session establishing your goals in more detail, which will help me get an understanding of where you are today and what your hopes are for the future - sometimes I will use a questionnaire to support this conversation. We will also go through the way sessions will work, including agreeing scheduling and other contract-related items.