Hello and welcome to my site. I am a counsellor in Bristol and online.
If you have arrived here, I guess you are aware of some problem or difficulty in your life and need help. It can be a big step to reach out. Well done for getting here if so.
I provide counselling from my own private room in central Bristol BS1, and online. I use number of different approaches including the obvious one - sitting, talking and feeling - alongside EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing), Internal Family Systems and breathwork. While I don't offer psychedelic therapy in the UK due to the current legal situation, my work is deeply informed by what psychedelics teach us about the psyche, our problems, and how to overcome them.
I offer both open-ended, and short term structured therapy.
Committing to regular therapy gives you the time and space to reflect deeply on your inner and outer worlds, to make sense of what you are feeling with a collaborative, supportive companion. I will help you to become more aware of the patterns, habits, emotions, and stories that shape your experience, so that you can find different ways of being. EMDR comes from a slightly different angle and can reduce the emotional charge of past traumatic experiences when they keep coming up again in the present. Internal Family Systems is both a model of the mind and a practical method of self-exploration that most people find helpful in one way or another.
I also work welcome couples, please see the separate couples page for further information on this.
I am LGBTQIA+ affirmative.
You are welcome to get in touch to ask questions or arrange an initial session.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Mike
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Contact me using the form below including a little detail about why you're looking for counselling.
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I will respond (usually the same day) with my availability and if something works we can set up an initial no obligation session.
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If we then agree to work together, this becomes our first session and costs £65 (£95 for couples), otherwise I waive the fee.
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We will discuss a plan for therapy - open ended or more focussed and the approaches we will use together.
The process of getting counselling with me
I try to make things as straight forward and clear as possible
What to expect in an intro session
People often ask me about this, so I've added this section. An initial session is a chance to meet and see what it might be like to work together. I will ask you to tell me what has brought you to counselling and you are welcome to ask me any questions. I can explain how I work, the different approaches and how they can help.
We might start to discuss goals for therapy: to feel less anxious, to learn to communicate better, to be less self-critical, to be more confident, to move on from a break-up, to process a bereavement. If you don't have an immediate goal, that's fine too and completely normal. Defining what the problems are might be part of the work we do.
Perhaps you are aware of how things that have happened in the past are affecting you now? In the intro session I might also invite you to tell me a little of your personal history. Essentially, I will just want to start to get to know you.
Near the end of the intro session we will discuss how you have found talking with me and whether you would like to continue. If you are unsure you are welcome to take a few days to think about it and let me know. Finding the right therapist is crucial.
A bit about me
I'm sure you'll want to know a bit about who I am to help decide if you would like to get in touch. I would if I were you.
I have been working as a counsellor for around seven years having trained at Bath Centre for Psychotherapy & Counselling. I hold an advanced level 6 diploma in Humanistic and Integrative Counselling. Since then I have completed a second diploma in Depth Psychology and Psychedelic Assisted Therapy, and accredited EMDR training.
I'm fully qualified and insured.
I am a registered member of BACP and follow their official guidelines for ethical practice. My work is overseen by a qualified and registered supervisor. I have trained in couples therapy with the Centre for Relational Couples Therapy.
Prior to my training, I had a career in the creative sector working in the world of brand design and strategy. I studied Philosophy as an undergrad. My non-therapy interests are electronic music production, cooking, reading, travel (I've lived in Australia and Canada previously), film and reality TV.
I've mostly been in Bristol for the last 20 years, but originally I'm from rural Lincolnshire, where I grew up outdoors amongst the crops and Fenland drains.
For more info about me, please see the 'about me' page.
About the counselling I offer
Counselling offers a confidential space where you can speak openly and be listened to with care, empathy, and without judgement. It is a place to slow things down, to make sense of what you are experiencing, and to feel met with humanity and respect.
My role is to offer a warm, supportive environment alongside specific and targeted therapeutic techniques that aim to help you with your unique problems. You may have had experiences that have disrupted your sense of direction or left you feeling stuck. Counselling can help restore movement, understanding, and a renewed sense of possibility. EMDR can help you overcome what we commonly call 'triggers' and move towards more ease in your life.
From the outset, I will be interested in what you would like to change or understand differently. This doesn’t need to be clear at the beginning; we can take time to explore and define this together.
We all have the capacity to change and grow throughout life. Therapy can help you notice the patterns that shape how you relate to yourself and others, understand where these patterns may have come from, and begin to respond with greater choice and self-compassion. Insight can open the door to more fulfilling ways of living.
My work is centred in trauma research and theory, be that early life experiences, inter-generational influences, perinatal and transpersonal dimensions. These ways of thinking are not used to label or define you, but to support a deeper understanding of your experience and what it means to you.
"Mike created a space where I have been able to experience a healthy, supportive and safe relationship with a man for the first time in my life. This is now beginning to translate into my relationships with others in the world. He has helped me discover the diamonds in the coal mine of life. I will be forever grateful."
"I approached Mike for sessions relating to specific relationship issues/stressors. He really helped me to reframe some of the issues and my behaviour patterns around them. This has really helped me understand the actual emotions I am feeling and allows me to work with/through them. I felt very comfortable talking to Mike about a range of other topics and areas of life. After every session I came away with interesting insight into myself and have been able to build and learn from these things. If I choose to go back to therapy I would be contacting Mike first."
Client feedback
"I’m enormously grateful to Mike for helping me gain perspective on some issues that were really hampering my enjoyment of life. He was always open, interested, and non-judgemental when listening to anything I had to say, even on subjects that I was scared to talk about and felt I’d never be able to speak about with anyone. I very soon came to look forward to our weekly session as a place to feel safe and understood."