Branch Counselling

16/04/2026

Is the "Map of Adulthood" currently glitching? 🗺️✨

In my therapy room lately, I’m seeing more and more people like Alex and Tiegan—25-year-olds who have done everything "right" but feel completely lost. One is navigating a post-COVID hangover; the other is working a dream job but can’t afford the rent.

We’re taught that life is a series of neat rooms we move through: education, career, foundations, freedom. But what happens when the door is locked, or the room doesn't exist anymore?

My latest article explores why we need to hold our "life frameworks" a little more loosely and why being "behind" is often just a rational response to an irrational world.

☕ Grab a cuppa and read more

💛Where on the map are you?

Alex is 25 and disillusioned. Tiegan is 25 and broke. Why our therapeutic 'life stages' aren't mapping out for a generation of young adults.

11/04/2026

Do we trust the "magic" in therapy? ✨

If a session feels incredible, our Imposter Syndrome often tells us we’re "cheating." We can worry we’re just enjoying a "relational high" instead of doing the "gritty work."

The power of a goosebump moment in a counselling session is huge, but does it have the depth we think it does?

Is it Therapy, or Just a Really Good Song?

08/04/2026

One of the biggest purchases therapists make is their chairs. My last chairs have served for 6 years and probably close to 5000 hours of emotion. I have probably sat in close to 100 chairs to choose these ones. Welcome to my wider, squishier forest-green chairs. If you don't like them, don't tell me, I'll cry!

04/04/2026

There can be a lot of therapy happening in the silence,
But sometimes your therapist is thinking about potatoes.
Not all the time, but occasionally.
Probably once a day.

Sometimes, the most profound moments in therapy happen in the quiet, in the space between the words.

28/03/2026

From risotto-stirring to the bookshelf: Happy 1st Birthday to my "paperback baby." 🎂
Almost one year ago, A Practical Guide for Working Therapeutically with Teenagers and Young Adults was officially released into the world.
The journey started seven years ago, not in a library, but in my notes app, tapping out thoughts while waiting in the car, on my lunch break, or (quite literally) while stirring a mushroom risotto.
I wrote it because I saw a gap. My supervisees weren't asking me about theoretical models; they were asking about the "messy" reality:
"What do I do if a parent listens at the door?"
"How do I handle it when a client is forced to be there?"
It wasn't an easy birth; I actually walked away from a "Big Publisher" to protect the practical, theory-light heart of this book. One year on, seeing it in the hands of fellow counsellors and professionals, supported by amazing people jeanine connor, Dr Rebecca Kirkbride and of course PCCS BOOKS LTD makes every bit of that fight worth it!

Why Theory Isn’t Always Enough

22/03/2026

A little late to add to Facebook but off the back of the manosphere hype in the media, I've reflected on what this really means. As always we don't need the moral panic, but we don't need awareness and care!

Hello, fellow therapy people.

06/03/2026

Sometimes safeguarding disclosures are the way we expect, the way we are taught in text books. We can transcribe those important words down onto the appropriate form and next steps are instigated. But occasionally disclosures don't have words, or bruises. This makes for difficult paperwork but important action!

Why Silence is often the loudest red flag.

26/02/2026

When a room is "vibrating" with panic, the most impactful thing you can do is be still.

We’ve been there: a student or client is hyperventilating, and suddenly the room is full of people pacing, asking about ambulances, and rushing for water. The intentions are good, but the sensory overload is a "threat" to a panicked brain.

In many years as a therapist, I’ve learned that we don’t "fix" a panic attack. We hold the space until the panic fixes itself.

My latest post is a step-by-step guide on how to be that anchor. It includes:
The "Six O'Clock" Rule: Why sitting with your back to the wall changes the neurochemistry of safety.
The "Mundane Pivot": Why talking about toasted teacakes is a masterstroke.
The "Crisis Kit": A free, printable 5-step guide for your office or staff room.

Pressure down. Safety up. Read the full guide here:

Dealing with overwhelm, for yourself and supporting others

26/02/2026

Every now and again I'm perusing my bookshelves and come across my book. Full goosebumps every time!
'A Practical Guide For Working Therapeutically With Teenagers and Young Adults' by me!

04/02/2026

🍃 Why more knowledge is leading to less clarity in neurodiversity support. 🍃

We are currently in a "Messy Middle." On one hand, we’ve moved from a narrow medical model to a holistic social model. On the other hand, we are trying to retrofit that new science into brittle, underfunded 1980s frameworks.

The result? The "A5 Leaflet." You get a life-changing diagnosis followed by a generic handout and no follow-up.

In my latest Substack, I explore:
The Double Diamond of research: why "diverging" into nuance has left us paralysed.
The Resilience Anxiety: Are we protecting the next generation or limiting them?
Why "one size fits all" support is just a generalisation for "this fits no one."

It’s time to stop retrofitting and start rebuilding. 💛

Read more here:

Navigating the 'Messy Middle' between 90s grit, modern science, and a support system in crisis.

30/01/2026

Sometimes it’s hard to look at the world outside of my little bubble, but it can be helpful to do so with my counsellor hat on; it helps to understand why people are making decisions that confuse me.

Finding a balance between making ethical decisions and stepping back from information overload is certainly difficult in the current climate, but if you are interested in how to do so, read on!

From the school yard to public policy.

22/01/2026

One house. Two bedrooms. Two completely different worlds. 🏠💻

In one room, Zara is using social media as a lifeline - getting a last-minute study boost from a friend (and online teacher) that saves her GCSE revision.

In the room next door, her brother Arlo is being held hostage by his phone. A toxic group chat and a cruel image have left him physically shaking, his homework forgotten.

With the UK government debating a social media ban for under-16s, we have to ask: Would a ban save Arlo, or would it just isolate Zara? In this week’s Substack, I’m diving into the messy middle of the online safety debate. As a counsellor, I’m sharing why "abstinence" isn't an education, and why the answer might lie outside, rather than a digital ban.

Zara sat with her quilt bundled up around her, tea steaming on the bedside table, laptop on her knees, phone in hand.