Psychotherapy

I offer individual psychotherapy and psychological therapy for adults in Worthing, West Sussex, with appointments also available in Brighton & Hove and online across the UK.

For me, therapy begins with trying to understand your experience together—how you have come to feel, relate and make sense of yourself and the world in the ways that you do. My approach is relational, integrative and trauma-informed.

Depending on what you need, our work may involve understanding deeper relational and emotional patterns, making sense of difficult or overwhelming experiences, or initially focusing on stabilisation, grounding and developing ways to feel safer and better able to manage what you are experiencing.

I work integratively, drawing from Psychodynamic Psychotherapy, Relational Psychoanalysis, Mentalization-Based Therapy, Person-Centred Therapy, Existential Therapy, Compassion-Focused Therapy and Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR).

I am an accredited Mentalization-Based Therapy Practitioner with the Anna Freud National Centre. I am also trained in EMDR and offer trauma-informed psychological therapy. I do not assume that one therapeutic approach will be right for everyone, and we can consider together which ways of working may be most helpful to you.

I also offer comprehensive adult autism assessments combining the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule, Second Edition (ADOS-2), and the Autism Diagnostic Interview–Revised (ADI-R).

I believe strongly in the value of the therapeutic process and relationship. My work is grounded in respect, responsibility and genuine curiosity about each person’s individual experience. I aim to practise in ways that are deeply valuing, thoughtful and helpful, while remaining sensitive to the wider cultural and social contexts in which people live.

Everyone is different, and everyone has a unique life containing both difficult challenges and personal strengths. The aim of our work is therefore to focus collaboratively on what you would like help with.

Some people come to therapy feeling overwhelmed or as though they have lost control of their lives. Others have a more general sense that something is not quite right or that something needs to change. While many people come to me seeking deeper and more transformative change, we can also focus on specific, shorter-term goals and the relief of particular symptoms.

Whatever brings you to therapy, it is important to me that you feel safe and accepted enough to explore difficult experiences and begin understanding what is troubling you. Alongside attending to distress, we will also recognise your strengths and the ways you have learned to survive, adapt and protect yourself.

Therapy is not only concerned with what happens inside a person. I will also aim to understand the circumstances in which your difficulties developed and the challenges you currently face in your relationships, family, work, community or other areas of your life.

My focus will always be on your personal experience of these difficulties—how you perceive yourself, other people and the world, and the feelings and meanings that arise from your perspective.

Through working together, I aim to help you become more aware of patterns or blind spots, understand troubling feelings and thoughts, accept what cannot be changed and identify what can be changed.

Therapy may help you find new ways of relating to yourself and others, distinguish what is genuinely meaningful to you from what may be shaped by other people’s expectations, and develop more fulfilling relationships and possibilities for your life.

The ending of an intimate relationship, receiving a life-changing diagnosis, suddenly losing a job, changing careers, becoming a parent or experiencing a bereavement can unsettle the assumptions on which our lives have been built. Even changes that are chosen or considered positive can bring uncertainty, grief and stress.

We often rely on a sense that life is predictable and that we have some control over what happens. Certain experiences can abruptly shatter these assumptions, confronting us with vulnerability, uncertainty and questions such as, “Why did this happen to me?” Therapy can help you make sense of what has changed, mourn what has been lost and gradually develop a renewed sense of meaning.

Midlife can bring a heightened awareness of time, ageing and the lives we have—or have not—been able to live. Experiences such as involuntary childlessness, infertility, relationship endings, caring responsibilities, bereavement or changes in work and health can involve forms of grief that are not always recognised by other people.

Therapy can offer a space to mourn what has been lost or may never happen, while also exploring identity, meaning and the possibilities that remain.

Relationships can offer connection, understanding, care and a sense of belonging. They can also become a source of confusion and distress. We may find ourselves caught in painful or destructive patterns that leave us feeling small, lonely, helpless, unwanted or alienated.

The therapeutic relationship itself can become an important part of understanding these difficulties. Together, we can identify the patterns and underlying themes contributing to pain or conflict in your relationships. As these patterns become more understandable, new relational possibilities may emerge, supporting more meaningful and satisfying connections.

Sexuality is an important part of our emotional and relational lives, yet it can also become a source of confusion, shame, anxiety or distress. Some people struggle with compulsive sexual behaviour, problematic pornography use or repeated sexual encounters that feel difficult to control. Others experience difficulties with sexual desire, intimacy, emotional closeness or feeling safe and connected in sexual relationships.

Sexual difficulties do not always concern sex itself. They may be connected to earlier relational experiences, attachment patterns, trauma, loneliness, difficulties with emotional regulation or the ways we have learned to manage vulnerability and dependency. Sometimes sexual behaviour becomes a way of seeking reassurance, escaping painful feelings or temporarily experiencing connection, while leaving underlying emotional needs unmet.

In therapy, we can explore these experiences with openness and curiosity, without judgement or assumptions about what constitutes healthy or normal sexuality. Drawing on relational psychotherapy, psychodynamic understanding and Mentalization-Based Therapy, I aim to help you develop a deeper understanding of your sexual and emotional experiences, recognise patterns that may be causing distress and explore more meaningful, satisfying ways of relating to yourself and others.

The aim is not to change who you are, but to support greater freedom, self-understanding and choice in how you experience sexuality, intimacy and relationships.

Relational trauma can develop through experiences such as emotional neglect, inconsistency, abandonment, rejection, criticism, coercion or a lack of safety within important relationships. These experiences can influence how we understand closeness, trust, dependence and conflict.

You may find yourself repeatedly fearing rejection, withdrawing when relationships become emotionally close, becoming highly alert to changes in another person or struggling to feel secure even when care is available. Therapy can help us understand these responses as meaningful adaptations rather than personal failings and explore safer, more flexible ways of relating.

Relationships between people from different cultural backgrounds can be deeply enriching, while also involving differences in communication, emotional expression, family expectations, intimacy, gender roles and approaches to conflict.

Together, we can explore these differences without assuming that one person’s way of relating is more correct than the other’s. Therapy can help distinguish cultural differences from individual relational patterns and support greater mutual understanding.

Depression, anxiety and stress can involve feeling that nothing makes sense, that life is out of control or that you are carrying an unbearable emotional weight. You may experience tiredness, fear, sadness, irritability, physical tension or difficulty regulating your emotions.

Therapy can help you explore and understand these experiences rather than simply viewing them as negative or abnormal. Our feelings can sometimes act like a compass, drawing attention to unmet needs, painful experiences or ways of living that no longer feel sustainable or meaningful.

Where helpful, we may also use grounding, breathing, guided imagery, self-compassion and emotional-regulation strategies to reduce distress and develop more effective ways of coping.

Difficulties with body image can involve persistent dissatisfaction with appearance, shame, comparison with others, fear of judgement or feeling disconnected from your body. These concerns may be influenced by earlier experiences, relationships, cultural expectations, social media or pressures within gym and fitness environments.

You may also experience emotional eating, restrictive eating, repeated body checking or a rigid and compulsive relationship with exercise. The gym can shift from being a source of wellbeing to something driven by anxiety, self-criticism or a need to control or change the body. Therapy can help you understand what lies beneath these patterns, develop a more compassionate relationship with your body and find more flexible and sustainable ways of relating to food, movement and yourself.

Burnout may arise from sustained pressure, excessive responsibility, difficult working environments or repeatedly putting other people’s needs before your own. It may appear as exhaustion, emotional numbness, irritability, reduced motivation or a growing disconnection from work, relationships and your sense of identity.

Therapy can help you understand the personal, relational and organisational conditions contributing to burnout and consider what may need to change. We can also explore the beliefs and patterns that make it difficult to recognise limits, rest or prioritise your own needs.

We do not need to experience a single life-changing event to be affected by trauma. Some people seek help with the consequences of repeated emotional neglect, criticism, instability, abuse or a lack of care during childhood or later relationships.

The accumulation of seemingly minor but repeated hurts can have a profound effect on relationships, emotional regulation, self-worth and the ability to feel safe or find meaning in life.

EMDR is a structured psychological therapy designed to help the mind process distressing experiences that may continue to feel emotionally present, even when they happened a long time ago. These experiences may be linked to intrusive memories, nightmares, shame, fear, physical tension, avoidance or feeling constantly alert to danger.

EMDR does not require you to describe every detail of what happened. The work is carefully paced, and we will first consider your current safety, emotional resources and ability to remain grounded. Where needed, therapy may begin with a period of stabilisation before processing traumatic memories.

Moving to a different place can offer opportunity and freedom, but it may also involve the loss of familiarity, community, professional identity and the experience of being fully understood. Even when relocation is chosen, it can bring loneliness, cultural disorientation and uncertainty about where home is.

Therapy can provide space to explore how relocation has shaped your identity, relationships and sense of belonging. This may include finding ways to integrate different cultural parts of yourself without feeling that you must choose between them.

I have worked with people from a wide range of cultures, backgrounds and identities, including members of the LGBTQ+ community who have been directly or indirectly affected by inequality, prejudice or discrimination.

Even when I do not share or have direct experience of a particular identity or cultural background, I recognise the profound effects that inequality and social power can have. I invite an open and continuing dialogue through which we can develop a fuller understanding of your experience.

My approach encourages you to share your story and consider what has happened to you, how power has operated in your life, how this has affected you and how you have responded. My aim is to support you in strengthening personal agency and developing both internal and external resources.

Neurodivergent adults may experience difficulties connected with sensory environments, social communication, emotional regulation, executive functioning and the pressure to meet expectations that do not reflect how they naturally experience the world.

Some people may have spent many years masking or adapting without understanding why everyday life feels so effortful. Therapy can support greater self-understanding, reduce shame and help you explore ways of living, working and relating that are more sustainable and responsive to your individual needs.

I also offer comprehensive adult autism assessments using a combination of the ADOS-2 and ADI-R. An assessment can help develop a fuller understanding of your experiences, developmental history, strengths, needs and patterns of relating to the world.

I work in an integrative manner, drawing from a range of approaches including Psychodynamic Psychotherapy, Relational Psychoanalysis, Mentalization-Based Therapy, Person-Centred Therapy, Existential Therapy, Compassion-Focused Therapy and EMDR.

Different approaches and ways of working may be more or less helpful at different points in therapy. We will consider together what you need and how I can most usefully support you throughout the therapeutic process.

I am an accredited Mentalization-Based Therapy Practitioner with the Anna Freud National Centre. Mentalization-Based Therapy supports people in developing a greater understanding of their own and other people’s thoughts, feelings and intentions, particularly at times of emotional intensity or relational difficulty.

I am also trained in Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR) and offer trauma-informed psychological therapy. This includes stabilisation, grounding and emotion-regulation work, alongside the careful processing of traumatic experiences where this is appropriate.

I offer comprehensive adult autism assessments combining the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule, Second Edition (ADOS-2), and the Autism Diagnostic Interview–Revised (ADI-R). Using both assessments helps provide a detailed understanding of current presentation alongside developmental history.

The assessment process is approached with sensitivity to each person’s individuality, including the possibility of masking and the ways autism may present differently across gender, culture and life experience.