Some people come to therapy as adults carrying a complicated history with it. You may have been brought to therapy as a child or adolescent and left with the sense that your boundaries were crossed, your privacy wasn’t fully respected, or that the experience felt intrusive rather than supportive.

If that is part of your story, it makes sense that approaching therapy again might feel uncertain, guarded, or even resistant. Trust is not something that can be assumed simply because someone is a therapist. It is something that develops slowly, and only if the experience feels consistently safe enough.

My approach is grounded in the belief that people do not need to be judged, evaluated, or pushed into change. Instead, I aim to offer a space where you can set the pace and where your autonomy is respected at every step.

What this means in practice:

I do not assume trust is already there. We build it, if it builds, over time. I begin from a position of positive regard, an assumption that your responses and adaptations have made sense in the context of your life. I listen carefully and enquire gently, rather than moving quickly to interpretation. Any reflections about patterns or possible reframes are offered tentatively and collaboratively, never imposed. You remain in choice about what you explore, what you question, and what (if anything) you may wish to do differently.

For some people who felt overexposed or managed in earlier therapy, it can be particularly important to know that:

You are allowed to go slowly. You are allowed to say no. You are allowed to question the process. You are allowed to take time before anything feels trusting.

Therapy, at its best, is not something done to you. It is something we approach together, with care and attention to your experience in the room.

If you are curious but cautious about trying therapy again, that caution is welcome here. We would simply start where you are.

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