Sam Gardner

I have availability at various times Monday - Friday:

Tuesdays 8.45/9

Wednesdays 1.30/1.45 and 7.30pm

Thursdays 9.45, 12, 1.15

Fridays 12.15

This may change regularly and new times will become available, so please get in touch if there's a time here that suits you, and to check for other availability.

All of you is welcome, your fullness and emptiness, what seems too much and what feels not enough. We will work together to help you explore and unfold what's going on at a pace and depth that feels right for you. This may look and feel different each week.

What might therapy look and feel like?

There is no right way to do therapy and you can't do it wrong. However, it is important to work with a therapist who you feel enough affinity with. Part of this connection may be to do with the way the therapist works. 

I know that I am different with each client and there is a foundation to how I work which is similar. The difference has to do with my instinctive and evolving sense of the person I'm with. 

Some people seek a space where they can talk freely and at length with someone who isn't personally invested in their lives. They may need help listening more deeply to themselves and finding their self-connection and self-trust when life is particularly challenging. Feeling heard and valued means they can explore new areas and edges. When we have enough safety and stimulation at the same time, it is possible to shift some of our old stories about ourselves and this often brings a new energy into our system.

Sometimes, it's helpful to describe therapy as a warm and empathic learning space, a place to work moment to moment with what is happening as we talk and explore your experience. This may look like noticing feelings and sensations in the body, and tracking these to get to know them better and see what information they may have for you. In doing this we may be able to work with contradictory feelings and experiences. We can acknowledge and make space for all parts of you to express themselves.

These ways of working are compatible and my intention is to be responsive and attuned to what might support you moment to moment.

My training is in the person-centred approach which means that I fundamentally trust you and the wisdom of your system.

I regularly attend ongoing training for my professional development. A trainer who I enjoy working with says that feelings and thoughts are simply a person becoming themselves through time. In saying this, she advocates that we don't intrude upon this process or try to change it. Whatever thoughts and feelings are alive in you, and however troubling they may be, perhaps together we can be alongside them, and allow them to guide us in our work of supporting you in becoming yourself.

The first session is the beginning of the counselling process and is paid at my usual rate. 

Any admin will be done ahead of this session so the full session will focus on you and beginning our work together.

This will give you the time to explore with me what is going on for you and give you a good sense of how it feels to work with me.

If you are tentative about getting started, I am happy to have a brief chat on the phone before we meet, at no cost.