When I look for a counsellor I look at their picture and ask myself ‘Can I work with this person?’ I believe this is true of many other people who seek a counsellor. There may be other questions too, such as ‘Is the counsellor located close or far enough from my home or work?’ ‘Is this counsellor affordable?’ or even ‘Is this counsellor trained or experienced enough to help with my problem?’ So ‘Who am I?’ and ‘What do I offer?’ ‘Would you want to work with me?’

How my experiences have shaped my appearance

My experiences growing up in the world were hard and these experiences made me think I needed to look scary on the outside, So I bulked up at the gym and got plastered in tattoo’s (Although I have 6 flowers). As time has gone on though I have wondered if I have needed to go the other way and soften. When people ask me ‘What do you do for a living?’ They are often surprised to learn I have been a teacher and am now a counsellor. I have been told I look like a builder, a scaffold-er and have even been approached to do work that requires ‘Hands on’ work for want of a better expression. 

How my experiences have shaped me on the inside

As I said my experiences growing up were hard, but these have shaped me to be emphatic in a way that I can recognise how I have felt in situations and mirror a sense of knowing to my clients. I have learned to be non judgemental, I recognise we all have shadow parts of ourselves. Bits we would happily share with others and bits we would rather not. I have been taught compassion I see the best in others with a knowing we all strive to be the best versions of our selves we can possibly be.