Person-centred counselling in Edinburgh and West Lothian, and online
You have been turning this over a long time before today.
Most people who write to me have been carrying something for months. Some cannot name it yet. There is no threshold you have to reach first, and nothing you need to have worked out before we speak.
Who comes here
People get in touch when something has stopped being manageable on its own. Often they say a version of the same few things.
"I am fine, and then I am not."
You hold it together all day and it comes apart at eleven at night, and you cannot see what makes the difference.
"I replay conversations for hours."
Something small happens at work and you are still turning it over three days later, wondering what they thought of you.
"Masking all day has worn me out."
You get through work by watching yourself constantly, and by six o'clock there is nothing left for anyone at home.
"Something happened and I have not put it down."
A death, an ending, a diagnosis, a year you do not talk about. It has been a while and it has not moved.
"I have just been told I am autistic or ADHD."
Sometimes at forty. You are rereading your whole life and you would like somewhere to do that out loud.
"Nothing is really wrong."
You do not need a reason that would satisfy anyone else. Plenty of people start here.
How I work
I am a person-centred counsellor. That is a way of working rather than a technique, and from your side of the room it mostly means this.
I do not give advice, set homework, or decide in advance what your problem is. I will not tell you what your childhood means. I listen closely, I say back what I am hearing, and I check whether I have it right. You set the pace and you choose what we look at.
Some people find that maddening for a fortnight. What it makes room for is saying things out loud that you have never said to anyone, rather than anything clever on my part.
Working with neurodivergent people
I will not ask you to make eye contact, sit still, or explain yourself twice.
A lot of what makes counselling hard for autistic and ADHD clients has nothing to do with the counselling. It is the phone call you have to make first. The room you have never seen. The small talk. Not knowing how long anything will last, or what the other person expects of you.
So: you never have to phone me, email is a first-class route and not a lesser one. The room is described in sensory detail on the what happens page before you ever walk into it, including the lighting, the noise and whether there is a buzzer. You can stim, fidget, pace, knit, look out of the window, keep your coat on, or sit in silence. You can keep your camera off online. If you would rather I said things plainly and literally rather than gently and vaguely, tell me and I will.
To be straight with you about what I am not: I am not an assessor, I cannot diagnose anyone, and I do not claim specialist expertise in neurodivergence. What I offer is a way of working that does not treat your ordinary way of being in a room as something to be corrected.
What it costs
The first contact is free and takes about fifteen minutes, by email or by phone, whichever you prefer. I keep four reduced places at £40 for people receiving Universal Credit, ESA, PIP or a state pension, and you can ask for one without explaining your circumstances in detail.
I am not able to take on new clients just now.
I'm on holiday.
Who I am not for
I would rather say this now than after you have spent money finding out.
I am not a crisis service and I do not offer emergency appointments. If you need someone tonight, the urgent help page lists who is open and when.
If you want a diagnosis, an assessment, a report for a court or an employer, a prescription, or a structured programme with worksheets and set goals, I am the wrong person, and I will say so at first contact rather than take a booking. If you are looking for someone with many years behind them, I qualified recently, and you should know that before you choose.
I work with adults aged 18 and over.
If none of that has ruled you out, the next step is fifteen minutes and costs nothing.
If tonight is difficult
This page is not the right place to be right now.
If you are in danger, or you have hurt yourself, phone 999 or go to your nearest A&E. Otherwise the urgent help page lists the Scottish services and their real opening hours.