Consultation services are a preventative and proactive approach to getting some guidance and support during a life transition or in daily living. Consultation is for the benefit of helping a client find some answers, advice, guidance and/or resources for their particular concerns. It is short-term (2 sessions) and can be supplemented with phone or online sessions to continue the support. It is not meant to be psychotherapy in that it is truly just to receive some guidance and assessment about what might help the client’s situation.

Consultation provides a safe place to talk with a mental health professional about concerns regarding yourself, your partner or your children without the need to commit to on-going psychotherapy, assuming it is not indicated. It allows a client to explore some worries and to make decisions or changes in their lives to move in the direction of wellness and confidence.

Whereas, therapy involves more in-depth work and could take form as brief therapy (max 6 sessions) or as long-term therapy.  Please see below for the various types of therapy I offer.

These are sessions aimed at one individual as a whole. I offer these sessions for adults (Adult Therapy), children and adolescents (Child & Adolescent Therapy).

These are sessions aimed at couples who would like to work  with their relationship issues. The focus will be on the relationship itself by helping the individuals to strengthen their relationship with each other.

Systemic Therapy is a form of Family therapy or Couple Therapy that seeks to reduce distress and conflict by improving the systems of interactions between family members. Briefly put, these sessions combine elements of Individual Therapy and Couple Therapy or Family Therapy.

We also offer Specialist Family Therapy, which is trauma-informed and attachment-based. These are sessions aimed at families who would like to work on their family dynamics and strengthen their relationship with each family member. They are particularly beneficial when facilitating a better the child-parent(s) relationship and dynamics.

Stepping Stones Psychology can help children, teenagers and their families manage challenges together and in a collaborative manner whilst helping them to build a strong child-parent relationship. We will ensure that the therapeutic approach we apply would be tailored to meet each client’s individual needs. For instance, for children and teenagers who struggle to articulate their difficulties directly or openly, we would be helping them in the process by using therapeutic elements from Art Therapy or Play Therapy in order to meet their emotional needs, particularly to ensure that they feel safe and comfortable in the sessions.

If you are a parent who is struggling to cope and is tired of the daily power-struggles  between your child and yourself you might find the family therapy sessions helpful. These sessions would enable your child’s tantrums to stop, your  child to cooperate and for you both to have a better relationship with each other. It would help you move forward as a family – whether your child is preschool-aged or a teenager.

Parenting in itself is a stressful job despite it being rewarding. However, it can be more challenging to meet the emotional needs of our children when our own emotional needs are unmet. Our unmet emotional needs could be related to our own childhood, our past or even current circumstances, including relationship issues.

Psychological services could help parents to better understand their own emotions which could enable them to deal with parenting issues differently. This includes setting firm but healthy limits while still maintaining connection. Talking things through with a professional can often help bring some clarity at a time when you are struggling to bond with your child or  manage your child’s unhelpful behaviour. Spending this time to stop and reflect can facilitate you to make sense of how you are feeling, offer new understandings and paths to move forward as a family – enabling a deeper understanding and acceptance of your child and of yourself.

I am committed to help families without placing shame, blame or guilt on them as I believe that often diagnoses, labels or a primary focus on behaviour-management can overshadow the real underlying issues. Thus, my approach lies in helping both your child and you to improve the relationships with each other by exploring in-depth the underling issues of any problem behaviour or difficulties that you may be experiencing. This often involves helping you to facilitate a secure attachment between your child and yourself, and develop positive discipline strategies. I also support parents and children by helping them learn new strategies i.e. to apply empathic communication and listening skills into your child-parent relationship, and for you both to find  solutions to conflicts in a collaborative manner.

The outcome of this approach will not only be the transformation of dysfunctional patterns and the relief of suffering. Instead it will be a real and lasting change without the need to threaten, nag, plead, bribe – or even punish (Dr Laura Markham, 2012). It involves the sense of feeling joy, peace, acceptance and love as a result of feeling connected, safe and understood by each other. For further information please visit the following link by Dr Markham’s: http://www.ahaparenting.com/parenting-tools/Discipline

Whilst working with families I am dedicated to using evidence-based practices which are grounded on latest research on brain development and my clinical experiences with parents to help you identify your strengths and move through difficult times as a family. This often includes psycho-education about our neuronal processes, chemicals and hormones that sometimes hinder us in providing a sensitive and responsive parenting. I support you in improving your ability to remain self-regulated, engaged and connected whilst dealing with your child who is ‘pushing all your buttons’. By using a Brain-Based Approach I will also help you better understand your child’s emotions and behaviour. For instance, findings show that if parents and children can work together to form a deeper understanding of the brain science behind all their issues, they will be able to turn conflict into connection and form a deeper understanding of one another (Dr Daniel J. Siegel, 2014).

This family therapy service is a specialist trauma-informed and attachment-based. I will be integrating elements from the play therapy model called, Theraplay, and also elements from Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy (DDP).

This therapeutic approach is very beneficial if you and your child have experienced trauma, which may or may not have led to attachment disruption. For example, you both may have experienced domestic abuse in the past, or there may be a history of birth trauma. You could be a parent with a history of your own childhood trauma, which may have come in the way of your parenting and had a negative impact on your parent-child relationship. This service will also include Therapeutic Re-parenting sessions which will focus on repairing and rebuilding the relationship with your child, in addition to EMDR sessions for you, the parent.

This therapy model will help your child feel secure, cared for, connected and worthy with you. You can read more about this under ‘ Therapeutic Approaches’. (Please could you make My Therapeutic Approaches bold and re-direct when people click on it).

These sessions are aimed at a group of individuals who are experiencing a similar issue or would like to improve in a certain area, for example anger management, emotional self-regulation, depression, and so on.

Emotional difficulties are experienced by most children and teenagers, however like us all, some find these difficulties harder than others and will be in need of professional help to overcome or manage their difficulties. Several  factors could contribute to the difficulties and they often interact with each other, which would further exacerbate the situation. Some of these factors include, but not limited to:

• Anxiety
• Attachment Issues
• Depression
• Difficulties related to Boundaries and Discipline
• Lack of Confidence
• Learning difficulties and disabilities
• Low self-esteem and shyness
• Neurodevelopmental Disorders
• Parent-Child Conflicts
• School difficulties

Following is information we have with regards to the approved adoption therapeutic services like counselling/psychotherapy.

In December 2010, the law changed so that only counsellors and psychotherapists registered as an adoption support agency (ASA) with OFSTED are able to offer specialist adoption services.

These amendments to the Adoption and Children’s Act of 2002 were designed to ensure that the UK individuals affected by adoption are provided with support and services from practitioners who hold the proper qualifications and experience.

The introduction of this legislation now means that any counsellor or psychotherapist working with a client for whom any aspect of adoption is the main focus, must be registered with OFSTED and subject to regular inspections.

What does this mean?

The introduction of this legislation now means that any counsellor working with a client for whom any aspect of adoption is the main focus must be registered with OFSTED (or RQIA in Northern Ireland) and subject to regular inspections. You can check an individual’s registration on OFSTED’s website.

Some counsellors or psychotherapists may offer adoption counselling/psychotherapy under contract with an Adoption support agency, such as Barnardo’s Link Counselling Service or PAC-UK (in Northern Ireland these organisations are called Voluntary adoption agencies). In these cases, the counsellor/psychotherapist doesn’t need to be registered directly with OFSTED themselves – but they can only carry out adoption counselling/psychotherapy on behalf of their registered agency (i.e. they cannot provide this service independently).

 Who does this apply to?

This applies to clients who have been adopted. It is about therapeutic support for anyone affected by adoption (focussed on adoption), which means that this also applies to siblings, grandparents, biological parents etc.

 Will I be able to see you for therapy/counselling?

Yes, and no. According to the aforementioned legislation which is under OFSTED, I need to be trained and registered with them or an adoption support provider such as Barnardos to offer therapy or counselling where the adoption is the key issue. As I am no longer registered with OFSTED this would mean I would not be able to work with you if the key issue is around your adoption.

However, it may be that some individuals are seeking counselling for issues they feel may be related to adoption (such as low-self-esteem or relationship difficulties), and where adoption is not the key issue. In cases such as these where the entire counselling or therapy experience is not likely to revolve solely around the adoption itself, it is fine to seek help from a professional who is not an Approved Adoption Counsellor. In this case, I will be able to work with you.

 What about competency?

Adoption is a specialist area where a counsellor/psychotherapist needs additional training in. Even in case where the key issue of your therapy/counselling would not be around your adoption, it is still strongly recommended to see someone who are trauma-informed and have an in-depth understanding, knowledge and experience when it comes to developmental trauma and secondary trauma.

I am honoured to have gained this specialist experience, knowledge and skills from my time working in Chrysalis Associates for 5 years where I worked as a Trauma and Attachment Therapist. Chrysalis is  a multi-agency team specialising in providing trauma-informed and attachment-focused therapeutic intervention for children who are looked after or adopted and their parents/carers and professional networks. Through this work, I have had the privilege of meeting many adoptive and fostering families. This experience has served to highlight the significant impact that early trauma can have on children’s psychological development as well as the huge demands that this impact can make on their parents/carers competencies. I am very passionate about helping children develop healthy, loving attachment relationships and use Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy (DDP) principles combined with Theraplay, Both of these therapeutic models are trauma-informed and attachment-based. I also offer EMDR and Sensory Integration techniques when working with traumatised children. I also offer parents and carers re-parenting sessions based on the approaches of Therapeutic Parenting. I believe these skills, knowledge and experiences are assets when working with clients who are adopted or were a foster child and with parents and carers who might be parenting traumatised children, such as therapeutic work around generational trauma.

If we were to work together, as long as the issues are not related to adoption then that is fine, however if adoption presents as an issue later on I.e. we have already established a therapeutic relationship it is permissible under the guidance to continue working with the client as long as I get supervision from a qualified adoption supervisor. I would ensure to seek this if required and when appropriate.

What if I want to see a different therapist, e.g. an Adoption Counsellor?

You can find one from this registry:

https://www.counselling-directory.org.uk/adoption.html