After the first sessions, we usually have a clearer sense of the initial therapeutic direction. This may include what to prioritise, how to support regulation where needed, and how we will review progress.

For some people, the work can move into deeper emotional or trauma-related material relatively soon.

For others, the early work may place greater emphasis on stabilisation, sleep, arousal regulation, relational safety or reducing overwhelm. Stabilisation is part of therapy rather than a delay to it and may help deeper work be approached at a pace that remains manageable.

Where appropriate, deeper work may include working with unresolved trauma, relational patterns, protective responses, self-criticism, shame, grief or parts of the self that have had to adapt under pressure.

Deeper work is not about forcing disclosure or pushing into overwhelming material. It is about working carefully with what is ready to be met, so that change can happen without flooding, collapse or shutdown.

Over time, therapy may support:

• more choice and flexibility in daily life;

• less pull towards old reactions;

• greater capacity to feel without becoming overwhelmed or shut down;

• more self-trust and self-compassion;

• clearer boundaries and more satisfying relationships;

• a stronger sense of being able to stay present with yourself and others.

Progress in psychotherapy is not always dramatic or linear. Sometimes change is obvious. At other times, it first appears in small differences in how you respond to situations that previously felt automatic or overwhelming.

We may notice progress through changes such as:

• recognising a familiar pattern earlier;

• having more choice before reacting;

• recovering more quickly after stress, conflict or emotional activation;

• being able to remain present with feelings that previously led to overwhelm or shutdown;

• feeling less compelled to avoid, please, withdraw, control or over-function;

• experiencing more flexibility in relationships;

• developing clearer boundaries and a stronger sense of what you need;

• relating to yourself with less shame or self-criticism;

• finding that an old trigger still exists but has less power;

• having more capacity for rest, connection, spontaneity or ordinary life.

Progress does not necessarily mean that difficult feelings disappear. It may mean that they organise your life less, that you recover more readily, and that more choice becomes available.

We periodically reflect together on what has changed, what remains difficult, and whether the direction of the work still makes sense. This helps us distinguish meaningful change from simply having had an intense or apparently productive session.

For a fuller sense of how I think about formulation, pacing, therapeutic process and change:

How I work ›

Trauma-focused work may become part of individual psychotherapy where trauma, chronic stress, dissociation, shutdown appear central to what you are experiencing.

The work may involve preparation and stabilisation, careful trauma processing, relational work and integration.

For some people, deeper trauma work becomes possible relatively early. For others, the first task may be to build more capacity for regulation, presence and safety before approaching traumatic material directly.

The aim is not to process trauma as quickly as possible, but to work at a pace that allows you to remain sufficiently present.

Where trauma, chronic stress or persistent activation, shutdown or dissociation feel central to what you are living with, you may wish to read more here:

Trauma-focused individual psychotherapy ›

Some people turn to psychedelic substances, spiritual practices or other ways of entering altered states in an attempt to find relief from intense difficulties, understand themselves more deeply, or shift something that has felt difficult to change.

These experiences may feel meaningful, helpful or transformative. They can also leave someone feeling opened up, unsettled, overwhelmed, confused or with material that is difficult to integrate.

Where a psychedelic or other altered-state experience has already occurred, it may be explored within individual psychotherapy and in the wider context of your life and difficulties. This may involve attention to stabilisation, meaning-making, embodiment, relational experience and clinical safety.

My role in this area is limited to psychotherapy after the experience, where this is clinically appropriate. I do not provide psychedelic-assisted therapy, preparation for planned psychedelic use or therapeutic support while a person is under the influence. I do not prescribe, supply or facilitate access to psychedelic substances, give dosing advice or refer to providers.

Psychedelic experiences, trauma and integration ›

Individual psychotherapy is not the only setting in which therapeutic work can take place. For some people, a carefully structured group can provide a different kind of therapeutic experience.

Group psychotherapy can bring into the room patterns that may be harder to encounter in individual therapy alone: how we approach or withdraw from others, seek belonging, respond to difference, manage visibility, comparison or conflict, and experience ourselves as part of a wider relational field.

The group itself becomes part of the therapeutic process, offering opportunities to notice and explore relational patterns as they happen, while also experiencing different ways of relating, being recognised and participating.

Group work is not automatically preferable to individual psychotherapy, nor is it suitable for everyone. Whether it may be useful depends on the person, the purpose of the group, timing, readiness and the wider formulation.

I do not currently offer group psychotherapy as a regular standing service. I may occasionally develop or contribute to a group where there is a clear clinical purpose, appropriate membership and a sufficiently safe and well-contracted structure. Groups would normally meet online, or may sometimes take place at an appropriate external venue when commissioned by an organisation.

If group psychotherapy seems potentially relevant, we can discuss whether an appropriate group is available or being considered.

For information about availability, fees and practical arrangements:

Fees and practicalities ›

My work is relational and formulation-led.

Depending on what is needed, I may draw on:

• Deep Brain Reorienting;

• Sensorimotor Psychotherapy;

• Transactional Analysis;

• parts-informed work;

• EMDR-informed understanding;

• ILF neurofeedback where appropriate.

The aim is not to offer a menu of techniques, but to bring different levels of experience into the work: thinking and meaning-making, bodily responses, deeper survival patterns, and what happens within the therapeutic relationship.

These approaches sit within one relational, trauma-informed process. They are not applied as a fixed formula.

I am enrolled in ADEPT, a two-year professional training programme in psychedelic therapy with the OPEN Foundation, beginning in September 2026. This is continuing professional development and does not expand the services I currently provide.

Approaches I integrate in therapy ›

For some people, adding ILF / frequency-based neurofeedback in person can support stabilisation, particularly with sleep, arousal regulation, emotional reactivity and overall self-regulation.

It may be useful when sleep difficulties, overwhelm, high reactivity, brain fog, fatigue or difficulty settling are making daily life—and therapy itself—harder to manage.

At other times, therapy on its own may be the better place to begin.

The question is whether neurofeedback is likely to be helpful at this stage, and we review this carefully if it becomes part of the work.

Read more about neurofeedback ›