Flexible and Collaborative

No two people are the same and our problems in life can start for different reasons. I aim to help you make sense of your own circumstances and the difficulties you are experiencing, so therapy is tailored to your individual needs and to your own manageable goals. 

I am an accredited Cognitive Analytic Therapist (CAT) and trained in Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing Therapy (EMDR), but also use other approaches such as Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and Mentalization based Treatment (MBT). These approaches invite you to be the observer of your own life and to take part in what needs to change. The changes may be small, such as stopping being caught in a trap of avoiding things, or they may be larger, such as finding new ways of relating to yourself and others. 

The types of difficulties I tend to work with are :

  • Trauma - such as a sexual or physical assault, an accident or incident at work, or a car accident for example.

  • Adverse Childhood Experiences and Complex trauma - childhood abuse, bullying, repeated home moves and school changes.

  • Career and life changes

  • Stress, anxiety and depression

  • Difficulties within your relationships

  • Self harm or self defeating behaviours

  • Suicidal thoughts

  • Anger

 this is not an exhaustive list, so please feel free to contact me to talk further if you would like.

Testimonials

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Testimonials •

  • "I had a very positive first experience with therapy, thanks to Michael! He was empathetic and patient throughout, creating a warm environment for easy sharing and reflection. He also referenced a lot of helpful research/tools related to CAT, and was great at explaining complex ideas in a concise way. I found it especially helpful when he would illustrate certain concepts on paper, and when we would co-create diagrams/maps to visualize my life story and unhelpful patterns. I appreciated each session with Michael, and highly recommend him if you are looking for a qualified, collaborative and dependable therapist."

    N (she/her)

  • “Thank you again for all of your support over the last few months. Our therapy was incredibly helpful - I'm certainly in a better frame of mind and more at ease with everything, so I would call that a success story.”

    A (he/him)

  • “Thank you so much for taking part in our training package today. You were absolutely brilliant. The participants loved the presentation and many of them mentioned yours as one of the best parts of the day.” — 

    Mental Health and relational awareness seminar for professional Journalists.

  • "From the first email I sent inquiring about counselling services to the last session we had together, Michael always struck an excellent balance between being professional in his practice but also incredibly friendly and warm to talk to. Over the course of our CAT sessions, Michael always emphasised the collaborative aspect of the program, making sure we discussed and worked on the matters I thought to be most important while also gently encouraging us to explore other avenues that he thinks could be helpful. Michael was also great at explaining the ideas/tools behind CAT and I always felt like I could ask him to repeat a point we had talked about in previous weeks without a problem. Finally, I always felt listened to during the sessions, that we went at a pace I was comfortable with and always left the sessions feeling we had made progress together that day.”

    L (he/him)

  • “My mental state has been a lot stronger and it has been thanks to the meetings with you”

    N (he/him)

  • “I really appreciated just taking time to acknowledge how the pandemic is having an influence and reflecting on it. Every online interaction so far has been incredibly work focused with no social/relational element or chance to process.”  

    Small group workshop reflecting on the Covid-19 pandemic and our reactions to it.

  • “His approach was very comforting and new, it didn’t make me feel like I was being looked at clinically, but as a real human being which was so important to me” 

    J (she/her)

  • “The diagrams you did really helped me make sense of the problem”

    D (he/him)

  • “It gave me the time to sit and think about what problems we are facing and with the problem being defined like that [using CAT and relational awareness] it was much easier to come up with “exits” or to acknowledge what “exits” have already been developed without realising it.”  

    Small group workshop reflecting on the Covid-19 pandemic and our reactions to it.