About me
You deserve to feel good about who you’re talking to.
Choosing a therapist is one of the most personal decisions you can make. You need to feel confident that the person across from you understands what you’re going through, and that you can be honest with them in a way you perhaps haven’t been with anyone else. I hope this page helps you work out whether that person is me.
How I ended up here
I was a teacher before I became a therapist, and in between I worked in higher education and professional regulation. Looking back, the thing that mattered most to me in every single one of those roles was the same: the person sitting across from me. What they were really going through, what they were holding onto, what they needed but hadn’t quite found the words for yet. That pull never went away. Eventually I stopped working around it and trained to do it full time.
I went to therapy myself too. I’d been putting it off for a long time, the way a lot of people do. When I finally went, it was one of the most important things I ever did for myself. Being with someone who was fully present, who saw the things I’d been brushing past for years, who held my story with real care — it changed things. I haven’t forgotten what it feels like to sit in that chair, and I carry it into every session I have.
Why I ended up here
I grew up in Florida and have called the UK home since 2011. I came over as a student in my early twenties, fell completely in love with the place, went back to the States, and spent the next few years figuring out how to get back for good. In 2011, I managed it.
Moving far from where you grew up teaches you things about yourself that are hard to find any other way. I know the particular loneliness that can sit underneath a life you love, the unsettledness of building everything from scratch, the strange mix of freedom and disorientation that comes with choosing a life nobody else quite charted for you. It shapes how I work in ways I’m still grateful for.
The people I work with
I work with adults at all stages of life, and I care deeply about every single one of them.
A lot of my younger clients are in their early twenties, right in the middle of figuring out who they are, what they want, and how much of what they’re doing is for them and how much is for everyone around them. My clients in their thirties and forties have often built something that looks right from the outside and are starting to notice it doesn’t feel quite right from the inside. And some of my clients in their forties and fifties have spent so long being the steady one, the capable one, the person everyone else leans on, that they’ve lost the thread back to themselves. They’re often the last ones to ask for help and some of the most rewarding people to work with.
Whatever stage you’re at, I’m glad you’re here.
My qualifications
- Level 4 Diploma in Therapeutic Counselling
- BA in History and MEd in Social Science Education
- Trained in person-centred therapy and Compassionate Inquiry, developed by Dr Gabor Maté
- Registered member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP)
- Based in Old Amersham, Buckinghamshire
- Fully insured and working under regular professional supervision
I also serve as a board member of the More To Life UK Foundation, a personal development non-profit, and CAWC International, a Buckinghamshire-based social and philanthropic club for women.
Outside the therapy room
I read a lot, practise yoga, visit museums, and am rarely found without music on. The things that restore me tend to be fairly uncomplicated, which I think is probably the point.
Sabal Counselling takes its name from the sabal palm, the state tree of Florida. Native to where I grew up, it now grows across the British Isles. It felt like the right name for a practice built between two places.
Ready to get started
Your first conversation with me is always free. Book a free 15-minute consultation, ask me anything you want, and get a real feel for how I work before you decide anything at all.
Or send me a message first if you prefer.