My approach.

Choosing a therapist is a significant step. You are bringing your inner world, your relationships, and often long held worries into the room with you, so it matters how your therapist works and whether you feel you can develop trust with them

My approach integrates psychodynamic psychotherapy and Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) within a warm, respectful, relational way of working. In practice, this means I pay attention both to your past and to what is happening between us in the room, and I hold your emotional experience at the centre of our work together.

Whether you come alone or as a couple, my aim is to offer a thoughtful space where you can slow down, explore what is troubling you, and begin to make sense of patterns that may have felt stuck for a long time.

My core training and experience are in psychodynamic psychotherapy. This approach is interested in what lies beneath the surface of our everyday lives - the unconscious patterns, feelings, and expectations that can shape how we think, feel, and relate to others.

In psychodynamic work, we might pay attention to:

  • Recurring patterns in relationships or mood that you have noticed over time

  • Early experiences and how they may still be affecting you in the present

  • Conflicting feelings that are hard to put into words, or that you have learned to push aside

  • The therapeutic relationship itself, which can sometimes mirror important relationships outside therapy

Rather than focusing only on symptoms, a psychodynamic approach asks why certain difficulties persist, and what they might be expressing. Over time, this can help you to understand yourself more fully and to develop more freedom in how you live and relate to others.

A psychodynamic foundation

Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT)

Alongside this, I draw on Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT), especially in my work with couples, but also with individuals where it is helpful.

EFT is an attachment based, evidence informed approach that:

  • Places emotion at the heart of the work, seeing it as a guide to what we need and fear

  • Helps people to recognise and step out of rigid interactional patterns such as pursuing and withdrawing

  • Focuses on how partners or individuals can move towards a more secure, responsive way of relating

In couples work, EFT helps each partner to understand not only what they are feeling, but how their emotional reactions are part of a shared pattern that can leave both people feeling stuck, distant, or in repeated conflict.

The aim is to support a safer emotional connection, where each person can be more open, responsive, and engaged.

How both approaches work together

Psychodynamic psychotherapy and EFT complement each other well.

The psychodynamic aspect helps us to understand how past experiences, early attachment relationships, and long standing internal conflicts are shaping the present. It encourages a deeper exploration of your inner world and the meanings you give to events and relationships.

EFT brings a clear focus on emotion in the here and now - what is happening between you and your partner, or between you and the important people in your life, in this moment. It highlights the patterns you may get caught in and supports new, more secure ways of reaching for and responding to others.

Used together:

  • We can explore the roots of your difficulties and the immediate patterns that keep them going

  • We can notice what is happening inside you and between you and others

  • We can pay attention to long term themes while also working with the very real, everyday moments of disconnect, anxiety, or distress

This integrated approach allows the work to be both deep and practical, attending to your history and to the changes you want to see in your life now.

What to expect in sessions

However we work together, there are some consistent features you can expect.

Sessions are usually once a week for 50 minutes, at the same time each week. This regular structure provides a reliable frame - something steady to return to as we explore things that may at times feel uncertain or unsettling.

Confidentiality, within clear professional and ethical boundaries, is central to our work. I will explain these boundaries in detail in our initial meetings, and you are always welcome to ask questions if anything is unclear.

  • You are invited to talk about whatever feels important, without needing to protect others or minimise your own experience.

  • I will listen carefully, ask questions, and help you to stay with thoughts and feelings that might usually be brushed aside.

  • Over time, we may notice themes in how you think, feel, or relate. We might also notice how some of these patterns appear between us in the room, which can be an important part of the work.

  • Some areas of life are painful or frightening to think about. I will pay attention to pace, so that we are not rushing, while also helping you to approach what feels important rather than avoiding it altogether.

My touchstone as a therapist

I aim to be steady, thoughtful, and genuinely engaged. I do not see my role as simply giving advice or telling you what you should do. Instead, I see myself as working alongside you - bringing my training and experience, while respecting that you are the expert on your own life.

Some of the touchstones that shape my work include:

  • Non judgemental stance

    Holding a non judgemental stance, especially around feelings or thoughts you may find unacceptable or shameful

  • Mind and body in mind

    Keeping both mind and body in mind - noticing how emotional experience can be felt physically and expressed in different ways

  • Power, difference, and context

    Paying attention to power, difference, and context, including cultural, social, and family factors that may be affecting your experience

  • Relationship between us

    Staying curious about the relationship between us, and how this might itself become a place where new patterns and understandings can emerge

Is this approach right for you?

This way of working may suit you if you are curious about understanding yourself, your relationships, and your emotional life in more depth, and if you are able to commit to regular sessions over a period of time.

It may not be the best fit if you are looking for very brief, highly structured work focused on a single, immediate problem, or if you are in crisis and need urgent, intensive support. In those situations, I can suggest other services that may be more appropriate.

Taking the next step

If what I have described here resonates with you, the next step is to get in touch.

We can arrange an initial consultation to talk about what has brought you to consider therapy, and to see whether working together in this way feels right for you - either individually or as a couple. From there, we can decide together how best to proceed.

You are very welcome to contact me with any questions, even if you are not yet sure whether individual or couples therapy would be most helpful. Sometimes the first step is simply to have a conversation and see how it feels.

Contact Me