Kimberly Sturgeon

I currently have availability on Thursday afternoons and Friday mornings for face-to-face sessions.

I have a limited number of online sessions available across the week.

I am now also opening my availability to Saturday mornings.

At times we can find ourselves stuck in our emotions, with thoughts that go around and around and/or in patterns that we know are unhelpful. We might have been learned to keep parts of ourselves to ourselves. Similarly, specialising in working with women impacted by sexual violence, I understand the difficulty in allowing some parts to the surface. What feels familiar can also be exhausting, but change is uncomfortable and often scary. We need the support of someone who can help us untangle the stories of our lives and move forward with compassion and vitality.

I provide a space to be seen, heard, and valued. From a trauma-informed and socially aware perspective, I work with all parts of people helping to bring them together to appreciate the whole person. My focus is on care and connection, working sensitively and at a pace that is suitable for each client.

At the point we enter therapy, we have some awareness that something doesn't feel quite right in our life. It may be that we have reached a crisis point. Either way, we show up because we want to feel better... ideally as soon as possible. It may be that we need some support making difficult life choices, or just want someone to hear what's happening for us at the moment. Often though, things are a little more complicated, and take a little while longer to unpick.

It's important to understand that sometimes, during the process of therapy, things start to feel worse before they start to feel better. It may be that this is the first time that we have really looked out from behind our habits or coping strategies that have kept us going, but no longer really work for us. It may be the first time that we have acknowledged our own pain at all. We may have done all we could to avoid it. This can feel overwhelming. At this point, it is the therapists' job to sit with you whilst you feel these difficult feelings and to help you to understand that these feelings are acceptable, valid, and will pass.

We may talk about replacing what isn't working for you with coping strategies that feel healthier. We'll definately talk about what your needs are, and we'll probably talk about where you have learned to cope in the ways you have up until now.

Through the journey of unpicking your life experiences, processing and understanding them within the context of your life, feeling what needs to be felt, and developing kindness and compassion towards yourself and others, you may begin to approach life from a new perspective.

I have found through experience that we all require something slightly different from a first session. Some clients want to have a clear understanding of who I am as a counsellor and what I'm going to provide, some clients just want to meet and get a feel for one another, and some clients really want to get stuck in as soon as possible.

For this reason, I can't say that I have a typical 'first session'. Rather, I'd prefer that during our initial contact that we discuss what you'd like from a first session.