Warm, collaborative counselling, couples therapy
and EMDR in Bristol and online.
Hello, I’m Mike.
Reaching out might be hard - I remember it well myself. Maybe you are struggling with things that you can’t talk about with friends, romantic partners or family. Maybe it’s hard to put it into words at all.
Officially, I am an integrative counsellor, but first and foremost I am a human being who wants to help others in their challenges. I’ve lived through my own, and know there are more to come. Such is the nature of life.
I work with individuals, couples and groups. In all of this, my goal is to create environments where you can feel heard and your problems, pain, challenges and struggles can be explored and worked through collaboratively, in connection.
My trainings include psychodynamic, person-centred, EMDR, and expanded-states (psychedelic-assisted therapy). I see these as different ways of accessing and activating your own inner healing wisdom and abilities.
Techniques aside, my primary aim is to create a safe relationship in which you can feel free to express any and all aspects of your experience, perhaps in a way that you haven’t been able to before. I commit to meeting all parts of you with curiosity, compassion and honesty.
We are nature, and as such, we have an innate capacity to heal, grow and mature throughout our lives if the conditions are right, something we share with all living things on this unfathomably strange, mysterious and beautiful planet. If you are feeling stuck, with problems that you can’t seem to solve alone, therapy can help you to re-connect with your own wisdom and capacity to shape the life you want, and maybe accepting things you can’t change is a bit of it too.
If you are a couple seeking help with your relationship, I believe that it’s possible to work through most issues, even when they have been playing out for years, with the right support, a desire to see things from different perspectives and a willingness to experiment with different ways of being with each other.
Whether we work individually, in couples work or in one of my groups, I see therapy as an opportunity to become curious about the contexts, experiences, stories, emotions and responses that have shaped how you relate to yourself, others and the world, while feeling understood and seen. As therapy progresses, new possibilities for living and relating can begin to emerge.
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
1
Contact me using the form below including a little detail about why you're looking for counselling.
2
I will respond (usually the same day) with my availability and if something works we can set up an initial no obligation session.
3
If we then agree to work together, this becomes our first session and costs £65 (£95 for couples), otherwise I waive the fee.
4
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 will start to discuss your hopes for therapy. If this isn't clear, 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 am a member of the teaching staff at Bath Centre for Psychotherapy and Counselling. I hold an advanced level 6 diploma in Humanistic and Integrative Counselling, a post-grad diploma in Depth Psychology and Psychedelic Assisted Therapy, I am an EMDR-Europe accredited EMDR therapist and I trained in couples therapy at the Centre for Relational Couples Therapy.
I'm fully qualified and insured.
I am an accredited member of the BACP (British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy). Accreditation is a higher level of professional recognition than standard BACP registration, demonstrating that I have met additional requirements to evidence my competence, experience and commitment to ethical practice. My work is overseen by a qualified and registered supervisor.
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
My understanding and approach is influenced by the profound teachings of psychedelic consciousness exploration and plant medicine work.
My work is informed by trauma and attachment theory, including early relational experiences, intergenerational influences, perinatal and transpersonal perspectives. These frameworks are not used to define you, but to support a deeper understanding of your lived experience.
The therapy I offer is a confidential space where you can begin to explore your experience at a deeper level, in a way that is often difficult to do alone. It is a space to slow things down, and to bring attention to what is happening not only in your thoughts, but also in your emotions, body, relationships, and broader environment.
Rather than focusing solely on symptoms or surface-level difficulties, my work is concerned with understanding the underlying patterns that shape how you experience yourself and others. These patterns are often outside of awareness, yet they can have a powerful influence on how we think, feel, and relate.
Parallel to this approach is EMDR. EMDR can rapidly shift repetitive, painful and often unhelpful responses by targeting the underlying memory network, allowing natural processing to occur where this has been blocked by the effects of trauma. Please see the EMDR page for more info.
"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."