Having worked with literally hundreds of clients over the last two decades, I am familiar with a broad variety of issues and if I do not feel competent or confident with something you present, I will help you find someone who is. Areas of my expertise include:

• Existential angst, in other words, seeking the meaning of life, why are we here?
• Deepening in to the sense of Self, being able to answer the question “who am I, really?”
• Exploring the role of alignment in your life – are you in alignment, personally and professionally? If not, exploring choices for a change in direction
• Exploring meaning and purpose, and the legacy you will leave
• Spirituality and its role in your life
• Feeling unmotivated in life when previously you have been very motivated
• Stress management, avoiding burnout, or embracing it if it’s already taken hold
• “Mid-life crisis” offering the opportunity to assess career choice and potential change in direction
• Contemplating relocation, locally or further afield (ie across countries or continents)
• Seeking professional advancement
• Desire to improve communication skills, personally or professionally 
• Desire to improve relationship skills, especially for the workplace
• Desire to build confidence
• Wanting to be assessed by others as a leader
• Family of origin concerns (relationships with parents especially if alcoholic or abusive, sibling issues, limiting familial beliefs, etc.)
• Mood disorders such as depression and anxiety
• Alcoholism or drug addiction
• Trauma whether childhood in origin or as a result of accident, abuse, war, etc.
• Resolution of grief whether through death or abandonment or something else 

In California, the work of psychotherapy and coaching is kept quite separate and when I practiced there, I was required to agree the relevant type of contract at the outset of work with a client. By contrast, in the UK there is increasing acceptance that some seasoned clinicians, like me, can navigate smoothly between the modalities, enabling the client to have their needs met whatever the focus of the work. I integrate along the depth of therapy and the breadth of coaching.

I am a member of various professional organisations which give parameters for how coaching and counselling may proceed ethically. I am guided primarily by the Association for Coaching and British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy. Each professional body has their own approach to the difference between coaching and psychotherapy, so even though it’s a useful question, the answer is not necessarily straightforward. In explaining the difference, I tend to imagine the breadth of coaching on a horizontal scale, and the depth of psychotherapy on a vertical scale – I accompany my clients as needed because we are complex beings with a rich past and a variety of possible futures.

Having said that, the generally accepted difference between psychotherapy and coaching is that psychotherapy deals with how someone’s present life is influenced by their past and coaching focuses on someone’s present and how they can design their future. Given the complexity of human experience and behaviour, and reflecting my own training, my approach is one of therapeutic-coaching reflecting each client’s unique shaping, needs and desires.

My approach and philosophy have evolved over the years. Initially educated in “family systems theory,” I was trained to assess how our family of origin influences who we are and who we become. While I continue to believe this is an important piece of the puzzle, I also believe there are other major influences and that we have power over how we allow those influences to control us. Unless we look at the whole person – body, mind, and spirit – little progress will be made. This realisation comes from working with clients and noticing that amazing insights about why they were the way they were did little to actually change anything.

This early disappointment as a psychotherapist led me to study with Strozzi Institute for Somatics when I lived in California. The Institute teaches embodied leadership, and I committed to this both for myself and my clients. The results have been extraordinary. I am clear that unless and until a body-oriented approach is included in the equation of change, change may happen briefly but cannot be sustained over time. If someone wants to shift the way they are, they way they feel, they way they are perceived, a holistic approach incorporating the power of the body-mind-spirit is essential.

This body-oriented approach is “somatic” – “soma” being the Greek word for the “body” in its wholeness; not just skin and bone, but the body in its aliveness. This approach acknowledges that humans are an integrated neuro-psycho-biological being, where neurology, psychology, and biology are intertwined.

By bringing attention to the body, being aware of breathing, posture, and internal experience, the body becomes a resource rather than simply a vehicle for the head. It becomes a powerful and invaluable resource as the leader of our own lives, families, or others in organisations.

Whatever concern you bring to work on, a somatic approach can be beneficial. To resolve depression, one needs to learn how to be happy both emotionally and physically; to communicate more effectively, it’s necessary to cognitively learn the skills and train the body to deliver them; to improve relationships, one needs to communicate more effectively and have a vision for the relationship’s evolution. Every aspect involves the intellectual, emotional, and physical self.

I recommend 60 minutes for Zoom sessions and 90 minutes for face-to-face sessions, but this can be discussed and tailored to meet your needs.  For example, clients traveling some distance to meet in person usually prefer to meet for a half-day or whole-day intensive. Again, we will discuss your particular concerns and needs, coming to a joint conclusion about what best serves you.

Fees vary according to service and will be assessed and agreed upon prior to beginning our work together, and reviewed annually. Assessment includes: your objectives, corporate contribution or self-funded, and whether we contract per session, by objective, or for a set period (such as six months). Fees reflect my seasoned senior practitioner standing, together with the logistics of travel and meeting place.

I accept BACS transfers before or within 24 hours of session completion, or at the outset of a series. An invoice from Coaching International will be emailed, detailing BACS information. Payment by debit or credit card (via Stripe) is also available on request, finance charges being passed on. 

An initial session is for gathering information and agreeing on the contract for our work. Sometimes goals are set in the first session; sometimes in the next meeting.

Each session is different, reflecting who you are and the best way to address your concerns. We may spend time sitting and talking, but are more likely to be standing, moving around, and practicing different ways of being. Somatic coaching sessions may include somatic bodywork, which we can discuss if relevant to your goals.

For Zoom coaching, a personal room link is provided. For phone coaching, you are to call at the agreed time. In all cases, being available and undisturbed is important, as is using a headset or microphone to enable movement during the session.

Absolutely. Confidentiality is essential; without it, clients cannot feel safe. I am deeply committed to client safety and to keeping identities and conversations confidential.

Ethical guidelines set out by the B.A.C.P. ensure confidentiality to the extent permitted by law (an exception is made for life-threatening safety issues). Details are included in my working agreement, and any specific concerns or questions can be discussed.

This depends on the concern you bring. Simpler issues require fewer sessions; some clients complete their work in as few as six sessions, others may benefit from months of work, and some continue with occasional check-ins over a number of years after the main work is done. The initial conversation will include an estimate based on experience, and progress will be reviewed regularly. I recommend committing to ten sessions at the outset, with a review in the eighth session (if not before), deciding on the way ahead – perhaps we will complete at ten, or maybe extend for another block of ten or something more open ended. 

Forty-eight hours minimum notice is required to cancel an appointment, otherwise the session fee will be charged unless there is a legitimate emergency. More details are contained in the working agreement, shared for your review and signature before we begin.

I have worked internationally for many years and now offer a hybrid platform: London face-to-face meetings when possible, and Zoom for the remainder of the time. A Zoom invite will be provided for your exclusive use, the same room being used for each meeting to avoid confusion. Phone may also be used as needed for convenience and to meet your needs.

I have a well thought out document I call a working agreement, for the word agreement reflects the mutual nature of the work. At the conclusion of a chemistry session, a working agreement is emailed with all the relevant information someone needs to make a decision about how we would work together.

If you’ve read my book Love & Imperfection: A Therapist’s Story, you’ll already know the answer to this question. I have been profoundly affected by clients over the years and definitely grown personally through the experience. 

Questions are welcome. Some I will feel comfortable answering and others I will decline. The therapeutic and coaching relationship is based on honesty, respect and trust, all of which include the holding and honouring of boundaries.

Unequivocally yes. I started seeing a therapist in college and have been in therapy on and off ever since. I believe that therapy has value throughout the life cycle and consider my own therapy to be a life-long journey (just as my continued learning and development is life-long).  I take breaks from time to time and resume when some concern or issue benefits from airing with another. I hired my first coach to assist in the setting up my private practice in the 1990’s. Since then I’ve engaged with business coaches and somatic coaches to support my personal and professional development – as I’ve said, a life-long pursuit.

If we met on the street I am duty bound to keep your confidentiality by not saying hello, especially if you were with someone. (Imagine someone’s partner doesn’t know they have engaged a therapist or coach, it would be imperative to respectfully ignore my client if they had a companion). It may feel tremendously awkward in the moment, and it’s certainly something we would discuss at our next session, but I keep very firm boundaries in such situations.

The short answer is yes, it’s OK to not talk about feelings. Sometimes we need to get all the heady intellectual stuff out in the open before there’s even any room for feelings to emerge. They can be delicate, they may need lots of room and definitely lots of safety before they’re willing to gently show themselves.