About...

When I was younger I vividly remember receiving reply letters from teen magazine agony aunts. I'd write to them and tell them about how I was feeling, and when I read the replies my life made so much more sense. I felt so much more in control of my life, a bit less of an 'odd one out' and, dare I say, slightly more normal. 

But what I mostly gained was comfort from feeling understood. Someone actually 'got me'. 

This feeling has stayed with me and has influenced the way I practice my counselling today. 

After a somewhat traumatic period in my life, I didn't really know what I wanted to do or where I wanted to go in life.

I was just going through the motions and just seemed to go where life carried me. Somehow I ended up at Wolverhampton Uni, 

studying art and design. The only thing I thought I was any good at, at the time, yet I still didn't make it through the whole degree course. My confidence was low and anxiety high. 

When I came back up North, I needed a job to pay the rent! I spent a few years enjoying working in a  bookstore, followed by a spell in the customer service industry working for EE (Orange at the time). I later trained and went on to work in education as a teaching assistant in a primary school and from that went on to managing a Pre-school. Again, it was just where life took me. 

Although I loved working with the children, I still had a strong desire to do something else, more true to my heart. 

It was in 2010 that I made the decision to change my career path completely and start professional counselling training. 

After many years of toying with the idea, I decided it was the right time for me to do it. It felt like I was coming home. It had taken until my 40's, 

but I had finally decided what I wanted to do with my life!

After my counselling training, and plenty of personal counselling of my own, my confidence grew, my anxiety reduced and I launched New Balance Counselling in 2013. I've loved being able to nurture it into what it is today and feel very privileged to be in the trusted position of someone who many people have been able to confide in.

Life is not perfect, I have come to realise it never can be. There will always be ups and downs and everything in between. It is difficult to 'go with the flow' when things aren't working out, and this is when counselling can really help you navigate your life. 

"Go placidly amid the noise and the haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence" 

~ Max Ehrmann

Initial training to be a counsellor not only provided me with the foundations of counselling knowledge, skills and theory to be able to use in practice, but also gave me space to grow personally. It was a time in my life like no other. I met some amazing supportive people along the way and we shared lots of laughs and just as many tears! I learned so much about myself as well as counselling; it was utterly life-changing.

Ever since then I have never wanted to stop learning. Continually adding to my 'therapeutic toolbag' I am always attending courses and workshops and learning more about counselling and more. 

I've since also gained the Certificate in Creative Supervision (UKCP accredited), and most recently completed training to be able to deliver EMDR trauma therapy.  

I've learned so much along the way. During my initial training I worked as a volunteer counsellor at the Rape and Sexual Abuse Counselling Centre in Darlington. Through the extensive training and the experience I had here, I developed a solid understanding of many issues surrounding the traumas of rape, childhood sexual abuse, domestic violence and controlling relationships. I learned about some of the related legalities, different forms of abuse, 

the impact and consequences of rape and abuse, self harm and other coping strategies. 

In addition to this, I was a volunteer counsellor for GADD (Gay Advice Durham & Darlington) where I worked with individuals and family members of LGBTQ+ community, working mainly with sexual identity and gender issues. 

I also volunteered as a children's counsellor in a primary school for the charity 'Place2Be'. I learned lots here, including play therapy techniques and games. 

I worked as a counsellor for Talking Matters, Teesside where I worked primarily with people who had been referred either by their GP. I also worked as a children's psychological therapist at Alliance Psychological Services in Stockton. Here I was part of a team providing a service to improve the emotional health and well-being of children by visiting them in their schools to provide weekly counselling sessions. 

Being creative and playful is not just for children!! Adults also benefit from it, allowing them to experience the joy and freedom of expression which can enhance their counselling experience. Being creative in therapy can include drawing, writing, scribbling, painting, sand, playdoh, writing, using any small objects and more. It can also mean using creative thinking, all of which I will be able to help you with if you are 

interested. No artistic talent required, just a willingness to play! 

​​​​"Adults are only kids grown up, anyway"
- Walt Disney

​I now devote all of my counselling work to my private practice.  

Since 2013 I have been offering private counselling sessions in Darlington. Sessions can either be 

in-person, by online video or telephone. 

Fully qualified, insured, professionally accredited and registered to practice, I currently provide private counselling for anyone from 16 to 116 years old! 

(I may need parental consent for 16 & 17 year olds)

I welcome enquiries from employers, occupational health companies and insurance companies. I am currently a proud delivery partner of Future Pathways and Xyla Digital therapies. 

There are many reasons for which you may come to see me. Some of these reasons including feelings of low mood or depression, worry, if you have suffered a recent bereavement or loss (of job for example), you are struggling with a change in circumstances or you have suffered any form of abuse or trauma (either recently or in the past). 

These are just some of the areas 

in which I work.

 I'm passionate about personal development and would love to work with you to help you understand and feel comfortable in yourself 

so that you can evolve in a way that feels right 

for you. You may discover a new normal, 

recognise a new beginning or discover a 

new balance for your life.   

I offer EMDR psychotherapy, which helps you recover from difficult or traumatic memories that may be 'stuck'. I've always had an interest in trauma work, in particular adults who have had any negative childhood experience including abuse, neglect, loss, bullying and parental divorce, or anything that has left you with a negative view of either yourself or the world.  

I also offer clinical supervision.

If you are either a qualified counsellor or a student counsellor in placement, and are looking for clinical supervision, you are very welcome to get in touch. I have a certificate in Creative Supervision (accredited by the UKCP). 

I'm an Accredited Professional member of the NCPS (National Counselling and Psychotherapy Society), a registered member of the BACP (British Association of Counselling & Psychotherapy), a Professional Member of ACTO (Association for Counselling and Therapy Online) and a registered member of EMDR UK and EMDR Europe.

following ethical guidance from them.

"Not until we are lost do we begin to understand ourselves" ~ Henry David Thoreau