Do you keep telling yourself you’re not going to use or drink again, only to find yourself doing it all over again and wondering why? 

Or perhaps you’re always feeling that who you are, or what you do is somehow never “good enough”?

Do you see yourself as a failure or a “loser”?

Do you focus so much on trying to keep other people happy that you neglect yourself in the process?

Or are you finding yourself constantly using and hooking up, only to feel empty and alone afterwards?

Do you feel as though you’re teetering on the edge and worried that at any moment, it’s all going to fall apart?

I get it, because that used to be me…

I spent years running away from and avoiding reality and the parts of myself that I couldn’t bear, the parts that left me feeling that I was somehow “faulty” and everyone else had their shit together. That if someone saw what lay behind the “perfect” masks I would put on, they’d run away in horror. 

I used to be stuck in a constant anxiety loop, over-worrying, paralysed by indecision, terrified of making the "wrong" choice. I’d put my head on the pillow at night only to find my washing-machine brain whirring around and around.

I’d constantly talk to myself in ways I’d never speak to my best friend. I’d to find ways to judge other people as “less than” or desperately look for validation from other people, putting their needs and wants ahead of my own.

My defences were so strong that I lived behind a wall of loneliness and isolation, scared that if people saw who I “really” was, they’d reject me.

I had no real understanding of healthy self-care. I barely knew what my wants and needs were, and if I did, I couldn’t express them for fear of rejection.

And to deal with all that, I turned to drugs and alcohol to self-medicate. Which worked, until it no longer did, and I started my own recovery & therapeutic journey.

And now…

I know how it is to get “unstuck” and to change. 

To have the choice to no longer use drugs/alcohol, to feel empowered rather than powerless. 

To not feel ruled by anxiety. 

To feel hope and joy, to connect with other people and have intimate relationships. 

To not be crippled by shame but instead to experience an inner sense of peace and self-acceptance. 

To better understand my wants and needs and be able to communicate those clearly to others. 

To esteem myself.

To let my authentic personality shine, rather than the survival personalities of the past.

Previous Experience

Prior to being in private practice, I spent several years working in a 12-step drug and alcohol rehab in South London and before that with the substance misuse teams in two London mens’ prisons.

My experience includes one-to-one work, group therapy and providing workshops on an array of topics pertinent to mental health and recovery.

Before becoming a therapist, I made a living as an artist (working with different media) and dealing in vintage dolls. I was fortunate to spend 13 years living in San Francisco, an experience that changed my life in so many ways, as well as mangling my English accent.

Alongside my professional training, I also bring lived experience of a dysfunctional childhood, recovery, queer identity, neurodiversity (ASD), and navigating aspects of stigma and marginalisation within LGBTQ+ communities.