Repeating patterns
The same relationships, conflicts or self-sabotage that keep coming round, however hard you try to break the cycle.
Psychotherapy
Psychotherapy in Brighton & Hove
When the same patterns keep returning, it's worth going deeper. Psychotherapy is longer-term, insight-led work that looks beneath the symptom to the roots, so change lasts rather than fades.
Understanding yourself at the root
Some difficulties respond well to focused, short-term help. Others run deeper. If you find the same feelings, relationships or reactions repeating no matter how hard you try to change them, the pattern is usually being driven by something older than the present situation, early experiences, unmet needs and the protective strategies you built to survive them.
Psychotherapy is the space to work with that. Rather than only managing symptoms, we follow the thread back to where a pattern began, make sense of it with compassion, and give the parts of you that have been carrying it a chance to update and settle. It asks for a little more time and commitment than short-term counselling, and in return it tends to produce change that holds.
The difference
How psychotherapy differs from counselling
There's no rigid boundary between counselling and psychotherapy, and I offer both, but they tend to differ in depth and length. Counselling and therapy is often shorter and focused on a particular difficulty or period of life: a crisis, a decision, a habit, a loss. It concentrates on the here and now and on moving forward.
Psychotherapy usually means a longer, more open-ended relationship in which we work not just with what's happening but with why it keeps happening. It suits people who want to understand themselves more fully, who have tried shorter-term help before, or whose difficulties are woven through relationships, identity and a long history rather than tied to one event.
You don't have to decide in advance. Many people begin with counselling around something specific and find that deeper work opens up naturally; others know from the start that they want the longer journey. We talk it through and choose together, and we can adjust as we go.
My integrative approach
My psychotherapy is integrative, which means I draw on several well-established traditions and shape them around you rather than pressing you into one method. Three inform the work most.
Psychodynamic thinking helps us notice how the past lives on in the present, how old templates for love, safety and worth quietly steer today's choices and relationships. Internal Family Systems (IFS) offers a compassionate way to meet the different "parts" of you, the protectors, the critics, the wounded younger selves, and to help them relax and trust one another. The Human Givens approach keeps us grounded in your innate emotional needs and the practical resources you already have to meet them.
Held together, these let us work at depth without losing sight of your everyday life. I'm a registered member of the BACP with more than 25 years' experience, and I bring lived experience of recovery, so I hold this deeper work with both rigour and real understanding. You can read more about how I work, session lengths and fees.
Start the conversationWhat it helps with
What people bring to psychotherapy
Old trauma
Past experiences that still shape how you feel and react. This often overlaps with focused trauma counselling.
The roots of addiction
Going beneath the behaviour to the pain it soothes, alongside or after addiction counselling.
Long-standing anxiety or low mood
When anxiety or depression has been part of the fabric for years rather than weeks.
Identity & self-worth
A persistent sense of not being enough, not knowing who you are, or living to other people's expectations.
Relationship patterns
Understanding your part in how closeness and conflict unfold, which often shifts the whole relationship dynamic.
What to expect
What longer-term psychotherapy looks like
We begin with a free, no-obligation 15-minute call to get a feel for each other, because in deeper work the relationship itself is a large part of what heals. If it feels right, we usually meet weekly, for an hour, either in my private room in Hove or by secure video wherever you are. Consistency matters more here than in short-term work: a regular, reliable hour becomes a steady place to think and feel.
There's no fixed endpoint set in advance. Some people work for several months, others for a year or more, and we review together how it's going and where it's heading. You remain in charge throughout, we go only as deep as feels safe, and slowing down is always allowed. Over time, the aim isn't just relief from symptoms but a fuller, more settled sense of yourself and more freedom in how you live and relate.
I offer psychotherapy in person from Hove, including Brighton, Hove, Worthing and Lewes, and by secure video UK-wide, including London, Birmingham and Manchester. See all the areas I cover.
Ready to go deeper?
Book a free 15-minute consultation and we'll talk through what's been happening and whether longer-term psychotherapy is the right next step, no obligation, no judgement.
Questions
Psychotherapy FAQs
What's the difference between psychotherapy and counselling?
Counselling tends to be shorter and focused on a specific difficulty, while psychotherapy is usually longer and works with the deeper roots of a pattern. There's no hard line between them, and we can move between the two as your needs become clearer. See counselling and therapy for the more focused option.
How long does psychotherapy take?
It varies. Some people work for several months, others for a year or more. There's no fixed endpoint; we review together as we go, and you decide how far the work continues.
Which approaches do you use?
My work is integrative, drawing mainly on psychodynamic thinking, Internal Family Systems (IFS) and the Human Givens approach, shaped around you rather than one fixed model.
Is it available online as well as in person?
Yes. I offer psychotherapy in person at my room in Hove and across Brighton, Hove and Sussex, and by secure video right across the UK.
Are you qualified and registered?
Yes. I'm a registered member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) with over 25 years' experience, working to their Ethical Framework, and I bring lived experience of recovery.
If you need urgent help right now
This is a private psychotherapy practice, not a crisis or emergency service, and I can't always respond straight away. If you are in danger or thinking about harming yourself, please call 999 or go to your nearest A&E. For free, confidential support at any hour of the day or night, contact the Samaritans on 116 123, or text SHOUT to 85258.
Areas we cover
Psychotherapy across Brighton, Hove & Sussex
In-person psychotherapy in towns across the area, and online right across the UK. Choose your area for local detail.
BrightonHoveKemp TownPortsladeHangletonPatchamPreston ParkWoodingdeanSaltdeanRottingdeanPeacehavenNewhavenSeafordShoreham-by-SeaSouthwickLancingWorthingLewesBurgess HillHaywards HeathHassocksDitchling
Prefer to meet online? Psychotherapy is available UK-wide by secure video, including London, Birmingham, Manchester and Edinburgh.