A Shared Journey Towards New Possibilities

Counselling can help us to explore, understand, manage and change things about our way of being in the world, like our thought patterns, our feelings, our relationships with others. Talking to a skilled and objective listener, like a counsellor, can help us look at these things in ways we hadn’t considered before. Therapy differs from conversations with supportive friends, family members or colleagues because counsellors do not bring in their personal opinions, or give advice. Instead we support clients to make sense of their experiences and options, to look at them in a different way, find meaning from them, perhaps even exploring their origins in a safe and non-judgmental space.

Yes. It's important that you can feel you trust me and I am happy to provide evidence of my credentials to help support you with this

MSc Counselling - Abertay University

BN Mental Health - Edinburgh Napier University

I am a registered member of the BACP and the NMC

I am a member of the Protecting Vulnerable Groups Scheme (PVG)

During your first session I will listen to your story to get to know you better and understand what brings you to counselling. You will also have the opportunity to ask any questions you may have about the counselling process. We will explore what you hope to get out of therapy, prioritise your goals and agree how best to approach them together.

I offer face-to-face sessions in Dalkeith, Midlothian. 

I also offer online sessions via Zoom.

Ideally we will meet weekly at the same time every week, as this offers consistency, however I recognise that this might not be possible for everyone. 

I work online and face-to-face Thursdays 8am-8pm and Friday afternoons. For some people, meeting at the same time and day every week will work best for them. Others, such as shift workers, might need a more flexible agreement. I am only able to offer some online sessions that vary week-to-week. Some clients ask for slightly longer than 1-hour, and some meet more regularly than once a week. I am sometimes able to offer urgent appointments over and above your normal time. This would usually be online.

I can offer evening slots online if that suits you best. Please get in touch to ask about this availability.

Sessions cost £55 for a 50-minute session. If you think you might need longer, we can negotiate this, sometimes people need a little longer to settle in or feel safe to talk. The cost of this will depend on the extra time we add.

I will invoice you after your session. Fees are payable on the day in order to secure your next appointment.  We will not be able to continue our work together until you have paid. You can pay by cash, cheque or bank transfer.

I recognise the many inequalities and barriers people face to getting therapy and am sometimes able to offer reduced fees on a short-term contract, depending on your circumstances, however there are some charitable organisations that offer free therapy if that is what you need. I currently do not have any reduced rate slots available. Please contact me to be put on my waiting list for these.

Yes, I believe it is important to make an informed decision about whether counselling is right for you, and you need to get a feel for whether we can work together. For this purpose I offer a free 15-minute telephone call that we can arrange after you fill in the contact form.

I understand that sometimes we need to cancel appointments, however as I need to book the therapy room to secure it, I will have to charge you for the full session if you cancel with less than 48-hours notice. This is also because it is very unlikely that I would be able to fill that space with another appointment that might have been offered to someone else if cancelled earlier. However, if I do fill the space, I will refund you.