For you

Are you struggling with addiction?

Making the first contact is scary. For many people, it’s the first time they’ve admitted they need support. That takes courage.

I work with the full range of addiction — alcohol, drugs, gambling, prescription medication, and behavioural addictions including phones and social media. If you are not sure whether what you are experiencing counts, please get in touch for a free, no obligation chat.

When you do contact me, you’ll be met with compassion and understanding. Your addiction has served a purpose — understanding what that purpose has been is part of the work.

Many services won’t work with clients who are still in active use. I take a different approach. I believe that equipping you with tools, understanding what to expect, and beginning to imagine life on the other side can start before you stop. It makes the unknown less daunting. It builds mental preparedness for what’s ahead.

We’ll discuss the specifics of how that works when we speak.

For families

Are you a family member or partner affected by someone else’s addiction?

Living alongside addiction brings its own particular kind of fear, despair, anger, and frustration. Your experience as a family member is different from the person who is using — and it requires its own specialist support.

There is a lot of contradictory advice out there. Enable or don’t enable. Confront or don’t confront. Set boundaries or stay close. Families are often left not knowing what to do, and feeling alone in that.

We will work together to understand your current situation, identify where you need support, and give space to what it actually feels like to watch someone you love struggle with addiction.

You can’t look after anyone else if you fall apart first.

Approach

How I work

I am a psychotherapist specialising in addiction. I know addiction from both sides — from years of study and clinical work, and from my own experience. That combination underpins my approach.

I understand that substances and behaviours feel good. That’s why we do them. If you’re contacting me, it’s likely the negative aspects have started to outweigh the positives. That’s where we begin.

We work together to understand why you’ve come to therapy, what you’d like to be different, what your goals are, and how you’d like me to work with you.

I take a direct approach. I don’t believe addiction is a disease you’re powerless over. I believe that with the right support and tools, you can recover and go on to lead a meaningful life.

My approach is underpinned by radical responsibility and honest conversation. Radical responsibility means taking ownership of our choices and their consequences. Not blame. Not shame. Agency. The difference matters — blame looks backward, agency looks forward.

Stopping is hard. There is nothing to run to anymore, and you have to learn to sit with the full range of human emotion — the good and the bad. We work to equip you with the knowledge, tools, and understanding to do that.

Before moving into private practice, I worked for several years with complex needs and dual diagnosis clients, led two modules on an MSc in Safeguarding, and worked as a Senior Family Practitioner in the NHS supporting families affected by addiction.

I hold an MSc in Psychology (GMBPsS), a Diploma in Integrative Counselling, and am completing a postgraduate qualification in Addiction Medicine. I am accredited with BACP and NCPS, and hold Advanced Practitioner status with Addiction Professionals.

Sessions are online via Zoom. £80 per session.

I hold one funded place for those who cannot afford private therapy. Please get in touch directly.

Crisis support

If you need urgent help

If you are in immediate danger, call 999 or go to your nearest A&E.

Contact

Get in touch

If you are ready to start, or just want to ask a question, contact me. I offer a free 30-minute consultation.