FAQs to enable you to be better informed about what counselling is, how therapy sessions work and hopefully alleviate any concerns you may have. If you have a specific question, either contact me or submit it below.

Frequently Asked Questions

Counselling Questions

  • Therapy can be beneficial in helping people to understand or navigate difficult or challenging times in their lives.

    Counselling is different for everyone and so are the results. Some potential changes that can occur are:
    - Increased self-esteem and self-acceptance
    - Increased resilience
    - Able to trust oneself more
    - Having processed trauma, experience triggers less often
    - Better understanding of thoughts, motivations and behaviours
    - Being able to come out to loved ones as LGBTQ+ and navigate their responses
    - Gaining hope for the future after a bereavement or loss
    - Learn new coping skills
    - Feel empowered to make positive change
    This is by no means an exhaustive list and change is never guaranteed.

  • Counselling or therapy is a two-way conversation that can include silences. Typically:

    • the client usually speaks more than the counsellor

    • You can work through what is going on for you nowadays or issues from your past

    • I will not judge you and aim to build trust and a rapport where you feel safe to share or work through things that may be emotional or difficult

    • It is a space where you can just be

    All questions are valid and if you would like to know more about how I work you can read about my counselling approach or contact me.

  • No. Therapy can be beneficial to people in a variety of circumstances and at different points in their lives to help them better understand themselves, or make sense of thoughts feelings and behaviours.


    However, if you are experiencing depression, this is something I can work with you around. I work with a range of topics and people, including gender identity, self-esteem, grief and loss and body image.

  • I use the terms therapy and counselling interchangeably on my website and professional to mean the same thing: talking through life events to help better understand them and yourself.

    All therapy and therapists are different so it is important to find what works for you, which could change over time.

    The term therapy comes from psychotherapy, which is a field that typically goes much deeper and focusses on diagnosing conditions whereas counselling is a two-way conversation where one person is the listener and the other the speaker at its most basic definition.

    To check what I offer, read about my counselling approach.

  • No. Counselling is a place to explore what is going on for you now, issues from the past or figuring out what you want in your future and how to achieve this. This is usually done through a mixture of talking, breath work and connecting with your body in my counselling sessions.

    Being listened to without judgement or much interruption can be extremely powerful and enable you to realise things you did not know before.

    Whilst we may explore patterns of behaviour, or process emotions and thoughts it is up to you to figure out what is best for you. Choosing to not do anything different at this time is also a decision.

  • Therapists, myself included, are trained to meet you without judgement, regardless of your current, life experiences, circumstances or personal background. If for whatever reason you do feel judged I hope this can become part of our conversation to (re)build rapport and trust.


    As a trained professional who does not know you in other contexts, this can make sharing what’s going on for you easier. We can talk about fear of judgement of others and work through this together, if you would like to.

Counselling Sessions

  • You can decide whether we have a phone conversation or video call, it will then be arranged for a mutually convenient date and time.

    I will phone you on the date and at the time we have agreed for our initial chat. Familiarise yourself with my calling card if your phone supports this.


    During the call I will usually ask more about why you are seeking therapy to understand how I can best support you at this time as well as if you have had counselling before so I can understand if there were any ways of working you particularly enjoyed or found challenging.


    I will also ask how you would like to work. It’s okay if you don’t know at this time but if you are drawn to working with movement or would like drawing to feature in your therapy, this can be discussed. It’s okay to change your mind too, if you decide on one thing in our call and then want a slightly different approach when we have our first session.


    We will decide if we were to meet whether this would be in person or online. If you know when you would like to meet or definitely cannot do, this information can be shared with me.


    If you would like to proceed with working together, I will offer available dates and times for you to choose from and set up our first counselling session. This decision can be in the phone call or an email once you have decided. Once you have decided we are to work together I will send across my initial paperwork for completion.

  • In person and online sessions are similar in the format they take.


    If we meet in person, you will wait in the waiting area until I call your name. I will then introduce myself and lead you to the therapy room.


    If we meet online, there will be a virtual waiting room. I will let you in to the room at the allocated session start time. You will have information about what to do if there are internet connection issues in advance.


    Once we are in the room, I will ask you to complete a personal information form if you have not already done so and then go through my counselling agreement. There will also be opportunity for you to ask any questions you may have about me and my therapeutic approach.


    The rest of the session will be yours to use as you wish; usually this is the start of getting to know you and what brings you to counselling at this time.

  • You can confirm you would like to start having counselling with me by phone, text or email.

    I will then offer you a choice of dates and times for our first session and ongoing counselling session slot. This will be on the paperwork you need to complete ahead of the first session.

LGBTQ+ Counselling

  • I am happy to address you by the name and pronouns of your choice, which do not need to match legal records. These can also change over time, just let me know what is correct in any given session.

    However, if you have a dead name and different pronouns and this is on GP records or what your emergency contact knows you as, please make me aware of this so I do not accidentally out you, should I need to contact them.

  • Yes, The Beehive Centre has gender free self-contained cubicles.

    Many trans clients wish to wear something different in counselling sessions to what they arrived in as it is gender-affirming. You are welcome to change before and after our session in the toilets.

    However, as you will need to travel the length of the corridor of the community centre to get from the toilets to the therapy room, I am open to you using the therapy room whilst I have stepped out to do this initially if it feels more comfortable and achievable. Alternatively, you can bring an accessory to add to your outfit and we can work together to find ways to achieve your goal of wearing something new or different in public.

    Past clients have found this type of work extremely personal, emotional and helpful to be supported through.

    Please reach out to discuss this further if this is adding anxieties to attending therapy.

  • When making contact with me, please specify if you have a preferred method of contact.


    Make it clear if you do not want me to leave a voicemail or text, for example, and I will respect this throughout our work together unless you let me know otherwise.

Neurodiverse Counselling

  • No. For counselling with me you do not need any formal diagnosis of suspected neurodiversity of any kind. However, it is important to know that I cannot offer diagnoses, only support to explore what is going on for you at this time.

    You may be beginning to explore what the possibility of having autism / ADHD / AuDHD or other neurodiversity means for you after reading online or a conversation with a friend. This is something we can navigate together and explore in therapy if you wish.

  • Whilst I have the most experience working with people who have autism, ADHD and AuDHD, I am open to working with all types of neurodiversity.

    I am familiar with some of the effects of dyslexia, dyspraxia and Tourette’s.

    If this is something you experience but isn’t your primary reason for coming to therapy, I would recommend we have a conversation, especially if I specialise in other areas that are important to you (e.g. trans and disability affirmative).

Have a question you would like answered?

This section is for general questions about counselling you would find useful to know before meeting a therapist.

If you have specific questions about counselling for yourself, contact me here.

Submit an FAQ you would like answered and I shall add it (and a response) to the list.