Hi! I’m Nick, a person-centred counselling therapist based in Bristol.

I’m currently available for face-to-face sessions in the centre of the city, or online.

Perhaps you found your way here because you want to make a change.

Maybe something about life isn’t quite working for you, or you’re going through a difficult period and need some help to navigate your way through it.

I work in an inclusive and collaborative way designed to help you explore whatever you may be struggling with and discover ways forward that feel right for you. I believe in the value of your unique humanness and my hope is that our work can support you to develop your resilience, self-awareness and self-acceptance.

Let’s work together to help you make that change happen.

Like it or not, we need relationship.

Humans are hardwired to band together with others for mutual survival. If human connection is so central to our existence, then, it stands to reason that we might experience lasting difficulties when our relationships don’t provide the physical, emotional and spiritual safety we need to thrive.

Many of us feel that we should mould or disguise parts of ourselves to receive acceptance, love and fulfilment. But try as we might, wherever we go, there we are, and that tension - between our genuine lived reality and the person we feel we’re allowed to show the world - might have left us with lingering confusion, distress, discomfort, or a struggle to form and sustain meaningful, supportive relationships.

I wonder if this sounds familiar.

Relationships can be the source of a lot of our troubles, but therapy offers a unique kind of relationship.

In therapy, we strive for security, seek understanding, promote choice, and work towards helping you forge stronger connections with both yourself and those around you.

Lots of research has been done into the effectiveness of this or that approach to therapy, and the evidence suggests that the approach is much less important than the quality of the therapeutic relationship – which is to say, feeling a good “fit” with your therapist, relationship-wise.

Drop me a line to see if I might be a good fit for you.

I work with adults of any and all backgrounds, and can support you through a range of challenging life circumstances. These might include:

  • Anxiety

  • Depression

  • Stress

  • Relationship issues

  • Managing challenging emotions

  • Addiction

  • Self-harming behaviour

  • Loss, change and grief

  • Struggles with identity

You might feel like it’s hard to identify or articulate exactly what’s causing you distress. This is really common - I feel that way sometimes, too! Let’s talk and see if, through working together, we can learn more about what’s going on for you.

I hold a nationally-recognised qualification (the CPCAB’s Professional Diploma in Therapeutic Counselling), and am experienced (with 4+ years of charitable and private practice) and accountable (I’m a Registered Member of the British Association for Counselling & Psychotherapy). You can read more about my approach to safe and ethical work here.

Let’s get started.

Expand the sections here to find out about taking your first steps to starting therapy.

  • I work from a cozy, private room near Bristol Hippodrome. I offer face-to-face and/or online sessions on:

    • Monday afternoon/evening

    • Tuesday afternoon/evening

    • Thursday afternoon

    • Friday morning/afternoon

    • Saturday morning

    My schedule often changes at short notice so please do get in touch to see what I currently have available.

    Many people prefer to have sessions at the same time every week, but within my normal practice hours I also aim to be accessible for people who can’t commit to the same time every week for whatever reason.

  • Each weekly 50-minute session costs £55.

    I offer a limited number of places at a reduced rate of £40 per session for clients who are in financial difficulty. Please let me know when you first contact me if you’d like to explore taking one of these places.

    I take payment for initial sessions in advance, but subsequent payments can be made either in advance or during your session (I’m set up to take both contactless and cash payments).

  • If you’d like to discuss doing therapy with me, drop me a line using this form. I normally respond within a day or two.

    (If you’ve arrived here because you’re looking into therapists for a friend or family member – thank you for wanting to support your loved one! My feeling is that people will get the best out of therapy if they have personally made the decision to reach out and get involved in the process. For that reason, and for confidentiality reasons, the person who will be coming to therapy needs to be the one to get in touch. Please feel free to suggest they have a look themselves and then drop me a line if they want to take things further.)

  • I’ll invite you to chat briefly with me by phone by way of introduction, and to make sure that meeting for a first session feels right. There’s no charge for this.

  • If we agree to meet, we’ll find a time that works for both of us for an initial 50-minute session. During the first session, we’ll discuss your needs and goals in more detail. We’ll spend some time exploring what brings you to therapy, any thoughts you have about where you want to get to, the possible length of the work you want to do and any questions you might have about the process. There’s never any obligation to continue as it’s important that we both feel that working together is the right thing for you at this moment in time, and that we’re a good fit for one another.

  • If we decide to work together, we’ll meet regularly, normally weekly, for 50 minutes. We’ll agree the direction and practicalities between us, and we’ll review periodically to make sure we’re still on track and that the therapy is working for you.

    When we’re starting out, it’s normal to feel a little uncertain or tentative – after all, at the beginning we won’t have known each other for very long. My hope is that a sense of trust and security will grow over the course of the first few sessions.

Here’s how I work ethically and mindfully with you.

Expand the sections here to find out about how I work to safeguard you and your information while we’re working together.

  • I’m a current Registered Member of the British Association for Counselling & Psychotherapy (BACP), and so I’m wholeheartedly committed to working in accordance with their Ethical Framework for the Counselling Professions.

    The Ethical Framework is designed to set clear expectations for the values, qualities and working methods that all BACP therapists must demonstrate through their work. You can download and read the latest edition of the Ethical Framework from the BACP website.

    I also hold a current specialist professional liability insurance policy.

  • The confidentiality of our sessions is at the heart of creating a safe and trusting space for you to explore your experiences. For this reason, I make every effort to respect your confidentiality both within and between our sessions. I will not and do not discuss my work with others apart from specific exceptional circumstances which are necessary to enable me to ensure the quality of the service I provide, to safeguard your wellbeing and to comply with the law.

    I’ll talk more about confidentiality, and provide you with a copy of my Confidentiality Policy, when we have our first session together. If you would like to review the policy ahead of an initial meeting, please contact me to request a copy.

  • Your privacy is extremely important to me, and I’ve carefully considered how I handle your personal information. You can be confident that any information you share with me will be kept safe and secure, and will only be used for the purpose for which you provided it.

    My information management processes are designed to comply with current data protection legislation, including the General Data Protection Regulation (EU/2016/679) (“the GDPR”), the Data Protection Act 2018 and the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003.

    My privacy policy explains in plain English how I collect, use, store, and delete the personal information I collect from you when you contact me about undertaking therapy, during the course of our therapy work together, and after it has ended. It also helps you understand your rights under the law and how you can exercise them. I am also registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office, the independent organisation which protects your information rights.

    Click here to download and read my full Privacy Policy.

  • If you ever have any concerns or complaints about my working practices, I encourage you to talk to me about it in the first instance, if you feel comfortable doing so.

    If you feel unable to discuss your concerns with me for any reason, you can seek advice from the BACP by using their friendly and confidential “Ask Kathleen” client advice service.

    If you have a complaint relating to my handling of your personal information, you can contact the Information Commissioner’s Office online or by phone.

Reach out.

Feel free to keep your initial message brief. I always invite people to have a short, free phone call with me before committing to a first session.

Please see my Privacy Policy for details about how I protect the information you send me. The information you submit through this form is stored briefly on Squarespace’s servers before being sent to my email address. If you can see the padlock symbol in the address bar of your browser, you can be confident that your connection to my website is secure. You can read how Squarespace protects personal data here.