Hello, my name is James and I am a qualified counsellor who specialises in helping people with loss.

I have been a bereavement volunteer with the charity Cruse for a number of years, supporting adults aged 18-75 with all kinds of losses.

I think we are not very good at talking about death, grief and bereavement in the UK. However, I firmly believe that being able to discuss these topics with a counsellor is a way to make sense of them and to help someone who is hurting or feeling lost move forward.

We all have difficult moments in our lives…. counselling has helped me through mine. A good counsellor makes you feel safe to explore the deepest parts of yourself. Private counselling is not cheap, but it can be life-changing. I like to think of it as an investment in yourself. An investment that helps you develop a better understanding of yourself, your strengths, your struggles and how your past informs how you act in the present.

I have always been curious about how people tick, how we are all the same and yet so different. It is genuinely a privilege for me to use the counselling skills I have learned in my training to help clients with the topics that they bring to the counselling room.

Grief and loss are not straightforward things to characterise. And the feelings that arise from them span a huge spectrum. The picture below shows some examples of what might be coming up for you:

And even if you’ve experienced a bereavement or loss before, how you react this time could be completely different. That can be disorienting in itself – there was a map you had before but it’s not the right map for you now. We can work together to help you build a new map. A map that honours your loss while also helping you find the path forward.

How I work

I have trained in integrative counselling. What this means in practice is that I work with a variety of counselling approaches to support you. Whatever the challenge is that you bring to the therapy room, my goal is to make use of the therapeutic approach or technique which I think will support you best.

My work is grounded in person-centred theory, which means that I believe that you are the expert on your life. I am not here to give you advice. I am here to create a space for you to explore what’s going on for you on the inside and get a better understanding of why you are feeling the way you are feeling. I will treat everything you bring into the therapy room with empathy and without judgment.

Confidentiality and trust are critical aspects of how we’ll collaborate together in a way which is safe and works for you.

My qualifications

I have studied counselling for several years and I have an Advanced Diploma in Counselling and Therapy.

I am a member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) and I adhere to their ethical framework.

I am also a member of the National Counselling & Psychotherapy Society (NCPS).

As with every professional counsellor, I have a supervisor who gives me guidance on how to best support my clients.

I regularly take part in continuing professional development, with a particular interest in loss and how experiences in our childhood continue to inform how we behave and the choices we make as adults.