In 2014, I set up Craftable, a non-profit community craft group for adults with hidden disabilities and chronic health conditions. I quickly realised that my own experiences of living with acquired disability and the social isolation which followed were echoed by the group’s members and that trauma in earlier life or childhood often played a part in members’ stories. As a result, I decided to start training to become a qualified therapist and I now have a counselling degree. In order to keep my knowledge up-to-date and relevant, I regularly undergo additional training in areas such as trauma, bereavement and disability studies among others; and I work closely with an experienced counselling supervisor.
I help clients from different backgrounds and cultures as well as members of other marginalised groups. Some of the issues we have worked through together include addictions, recovery from eating disorders, caring for loved ones and bereavement, communication issues and social anxiety. I have lived experience of autism and ADHD, physical disability and deafness and work mainly with clients who are themselves neurodivergent or disabled or who have ND or disabled relatives. Having said that, the therapy I offer is based upon your fact and not upon my assumptions – my experiences may help me to understand your viewpoint and to enter your world, but they do not make me an expert on what it means to be you. That expert is you.
I am an integrative, identity-centred and person-centred counsellor offering counselling in which self-compassion is embedded. This means that you are at the centre of our time together and that therapy is tailored to your needs. Working together as equals with no judgement creates a safe space where you can shine a light on the feelings, issues and concerns that you have, helping you feel not just listened to but really heard and seen for the whole of you are. From time to time, I might suggest homework or activities that we can do together to help frame your thoughts or emotions, but these will always be offered to you as a choice. Your therapy is yours to shape.
