Counselling and Psychotherapy for Children, Young People and therapeutic support for Families.
Child Adolescent Counselling and Psychotherapy can be useful to help a child or young person in distress make sense of their difficult feelings.
A therapist can provide an empathic witness to the child's implicit world and can enable the child to feel seen heard and understood. It is this resonance that manifests change in thoughts; attitude to feelings and behaviours attributed to themselves and also others. The self-healing capacities of the child are activated via the creative imagination. Through play therapy, art, drama, puppetry and other creative media, the child can begin to express that which cannot be verbalized in the presence of an attuned, skilled witness. This can facilitate change and the unfolding of potential.
Support for Children
Through the symbols of play, art and sandtray, and sensory therapy the child can spontaneously and non-verbally communicate his or her inner state and convey those difficulties to the therapist. This emotionally engaging experience can revise presenting issues and behavioural challenges.
Support for Young People
Adolescence or the emergence of 'Adult-essence' is a key time in the shaping of a young person's identity. Through talking therapy, metaphoric symbolic conversations together with art, other creative therapies and CBT can facilitate the opportunity for the young person to explore their challenging experiences and connect with their innate wisdom as they embark toward adulthood. It is vital in today's society that a young person is equipped with the skills that enable them to be adaptable resilient and creative.
Support for Families: Parenting Consultancy
A child or young person in suffering can put a lot of strain onto the family dynamics. My training and understanding of Family Systemic practices enables me, where appropriate, support the family as a whole in parental consultations. Transforming conflicted relationships into harmonious exchanges, through an understanding of their origin, can be useful for the family unit.
I have practiced as a Child Adolescent Psychotherapist in a variety of contexts. I have helped children and young people and their families in primary schools and secondary secondary schools as well as within my private consulting rooms. I have supported Looked After Children and those in Special Guardianship. I have worked in a multi-disciplinary setting alongside CAMHS (Child Adolescent Mental Health Service) and Consultant Psychiatrists. I am a contracted School Counsellor in a Central London Independent Day School, and a Secondary School in West Sussex.
I work with children and young people with extensive Developmental and Learning Disabilities and Difficulties.