One of the most valuable aspects of counselling and psychotherapy is having dedicated time and space just for you — a place where you can explore whatever is troubling you, without judgement.

I am an experienced psychotherapist, working with a wide range of difficulties including relationship issues, depression, anxiety and trauma. People often seek psychotherapy after trying to manage things on their own, and then realising they would like additional support without feeling they are burdening friends or family. Nothing is too difficult to bring to therapy. The issues I work with may include relationship or health concerns, low self-esteem, fear or anger, bereavement, sexual difficulties, or experiences of loss and change.

I do not approach therapy with preconceived ideas about how your situation should be managed. Instead, I offer a safe, confidential and non-judgemental environment where you can explore your thoughts and feelings at your own pace. Together, we work to encourage emotional growth, resolve difficulties, and support meaningful change, with the aim of helping you lead a more fulfilled life.

I work psychodynamically, drawing on the idea that unconscious fears, desires and needs influence our conscious lives. In our work together, we explore feelings that may have been hidden or difficult to access, allowing them to be experienced, thought about and understood. Gaining this understanding can help you feel more in control of how these experiences affect you.

We begin with a fifty-minute assessment session. This provides an opportunity to explore what has brought you to therapy, why now, and how you are currently affected. It also allows us to consider whether this way of working feels right for you. If it is not, I will support you in identifying appropriate next steps.

If we decide to work together, we usually agree an initial minimum of six fifty-minute sessions. After this, we review the work and consider what may be helpful going forward.

I have worked with people for anything from six sessions to over two hundred sessions, depending on the nature and complexity of the difficulties being explored. While some people are primarily seeking practical coping strategies, others wish to develop a deeper understanding of themselves and their experiences. I aim to keep the therapeutic process flexible and responsive to these differing needs.

Some of the issues I commonly work with include anxiety, childhood and adult abuse, bereavement, sexuality, trauma, anger, relationship difficulties, domestic violence, adoption and assertiveness.You can read more about this at www.harleycp.co.uk