Counselling
How can counselling help?
Counselling provides a safe, non-judgemental space to talk and process your experiences and emotions. The support I offer means that you won’t have to bear it all in isolation: I will be there alongside you. We will work together to understand who you are now, how you can weather these life events and how you make sense of the world.
I am a registered member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy and abide by their Code of Ethics. In addition to the counselling services I provide, I am also available to supervise, speak, and train in my areas of expertise as outlined below.
If you desire counselling support outside of the topics mentioned here, get in touch to see if we are a good fit and if I have room available to accommodate your interest.
Practicalities & Fees
I am equally happy meeting in my physical office space — which is in the Cathedral Close in Norwich, England — or online via Zoom.
My fees are £70 for a 50-minute session. It may be possible to offer a reduced fee; please ask if this is something you need.
Infertility
The fertility journey, whether you are struggling with primary or secondary infertility, can be a time of immense strain, sadness and uncertainty. Women and their partners are faced with endless questions, decisions, and invasive procedures. Many feel like it’s just not fair that having babies seems to come so easily to ‘everyone else.’
I work with many clients undergoing fertility treatment, and I know that this process can be lonely and all-consuming. It can affect everything, from work to relationships and friendships–everyday life can feel harder to manage. In addition, fertility treatment involves lots of waiting and testing, so it is vital to find ways to manage these intense physical and emotional stressors.
Counselling sessions will focus on building up your resources to help you get through this period; the sessions can help reduce these feelings of isolation and provide another level of support during. For many clients, it comes as a relief to give voice to how pervasive their anxiety may be, or to talk about the grief, sorrow, shame or anger that might be sitting just under the surface.
I have done additional training with the British Infertility Counselling Association.
Pregnancy Loss
Anyone who experiences a pregnancy loss – whether a miscarriage, abortion, termination for medical reasons, ectopic or molar pregnancy or stillbirth – may find themselves in a grey area of grief.
How do you grieve for a baby you never met, or who only lived a short time? Many women and their partners find their experience of loss traumatic and can be unprepared for the grief that follows.
In our society, talking about pregnancy loss or baby loss is still taboo – it’s a very difficult thing to discuss, partly because so many people don’t know how to react. I am particularly interested in this concept of disenfranchised grief – how to grieve losses that are not recognised by society – as it applies to pregnancy loss and other non-death losses.
In March 2025, I had an article published in Therapy Today (1), the journal of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP), about working with pregnant clients who experience high levels of anxiety due to previous losses.
I have extensive training and experience working with perinatal loss and grief, both in terms of working with clients and training other counsellors working in this area. I have also delivered training to health and social care professionals across Norfolk to raise awareness of the emotional impact of pregnancy loss, educating them about how to better support families who have experienced this type of loss. I maintain close professional links with TimeNorfolk, a pregnancy loss charity, having previously worked there as a counsellor and trainer.
(1) © This article was first published in Therapy Today, the journal of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP)
Birth Trauma
New parents encounter an array of challenges in the best of times. When things don’t go as expected during pregnancy or with the birth, it can be difficult – or even impossible – to continue on as usual.
I am experienced supporting individuals who have faced complications related to pregnancy, birth or early parenthood, including:
· Pregnancy after a previous loss
· Baby born after fertility treatment
· Referral to the Fetal Medicine Unit
· A traumatic birth
· Pre-term birth and/or NICU experience
· Health concerns for mum or baby
Maternal Mental Health
We all grow up with ideas of what it will mean to be a parents and how it will feel to experience pregnancy, birth and parenthood. It can be profoundly disorientating and incredibly distressing when things don’t unfold as we expect.
Weekly counselling sessions can be part of the recovery process. Counselling gives you space to talk freely: it can help to have a safe, non-judgemental space to express yourself without worrying about judgements or criticisms.
It may seem like everyone has an opinion about how you should parent or what your baby needs. As a counsellor, I am a big proponent of ‘adjusting your oxygen mask first.’ I will be focussed on you: What do you need? What might help a little? What feelings need to be expressed?
I have done additional training in perinatal mental health with the Seleni Institute and the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust. I am also experienced working with clients who have had support from NHS perinatal mental health teams.
Disabilities & Medical Complexity
Parents who have children with a disability or special educational needs often face particular challenges and stressors. It can be both distressing and traumatic to learn your baby or child has a disability or a long-term health condition. And there’s often a big learning curve as you discover what kind of care and adaptations your child requires – this, too, can create additional stress. Life can feel relentless and exhausting, and there is often a huge amount of uncertainty about what will happen as your child grows older.
If breaking point feels perilously close, it’s time to get support. That said, I appreciate finding the right support for yourself is not always easy when the all the focus has been on finding the right support for your child.
Counselling provides a space to process your emotions; it’s also 50 minutes in the week you can have to yourself.
I have extensive professional and personal experience supporting parents who have children with disabilities and/or special educational needs, whether or not there’s a formal diagnosis. I have also delivered training with Respond to NHS professionals, focussing on family trauma when there’s a family member with autism or learning difficulties.
Please note I work with adults only.