Lesley Binks

I work only in online therapy, using Zoom.  I can be flexible about my hours to a certain extent.  

And that's the point, to a certain extent.  I appreciate that life gets in the way sometimes, and we need to reschedule. However, this conflicts with part of the therapeutic process, which works best when we have a regular session at a specific time and day of the week.  Preserving that time on that day as sacrosanct to your therapy is in your best interests.

If you want to query me about this, please do.

I offer sessions three days a week, Monday through Wednesday, but restrict my client load to three clients a day.  My nominal hours are from 10 am until 5 pm.  So within that time, I can offer sessions at 10 am, 11:15 am and 12:30 pm or 2:00 pm, 3:15 pm or 4:30 pm.

If these hours don't suit, please enquire.

Hi, I don't know much about you at this stage, but thank you for looking at my profile.  

I am curious about you. What brings you to seek therapy? What do you hope to achieve from therapy?  If everything went as well as it could, what would successful therapy look like for you? What prior experience do you have of counselling?  

You may have reached a point where you feel like the weight of the world is on your shoulders, you have little to no interest in anything, and you would say you are functioning. You are functional, you get up (or not), go about your daily routine, but with no enthusiasm, no sense of living, just going through the motions in life and relationships.  Isn't life meant to be more than just that?  Isn't your life meant to be more than just functional?

If this is you, or somewhat like you with a dash of anxiety, anger, or adverse childhood experiences thrown in, please get in contact.  I will offer you a safe, confidential space in which to explore what's happening for you, help you make sense of it, and help you move forward in your life the way you want to.

I believe we tend to develop towards our best version of ourselves. At our core, we have a self. This self gets a lot placed on it as we develop through life. We experience all sorts of social pressures and expectations. Against those we have our basic needs, the need to belong, be safe, to love and be loved, to follow whatever faith we choose, to be housed.

These expectations and needs may conflict with our inner selves. We manage conflicting needs by restricting our natural selves. Sadly, we learn to deny ourselves. Eventually, our inner self grinds to a halt. Life becomes difficult, relationships get more difficult. We find we have little or no interest in anything and become merely a functional human being, going through the processes of our life with no enjoyment, no sense of contentment, no joie de vivre. We become highly self-critical, giving rise to feelings of incompetence, depression, perfectionism and anxiety.

I currently work in an online capacity only.   This provides a level of geographic flexibility.  I work with adults in the UK

Working online does provide a degree of flexibility, but it helps you in your therapeutic process to maintain a specific time and day.  

I do appreciate that life happens, and we may need to adjust our session time or day to continue.  I also appreciate that some of us, particularly in the emergency services, have shift work, and I have some capacity to accommodate these work patterns too.

Sessions with me last 50 minutes, during which you will have my undivided attention.  

I am trained in humanistic, person-centred and integrative methods. The integrative part means I can use different methods, such as Psychoanalysis, to dip into your history and help you in the here and now.

Person-centred therapy focuses on bringing you back into contact with your inner self. This doesn't remove conflicting needs from our lives or prevent them from arising, but it does help us manage them in a way more in line with our true nature.

Our first session will be a time for each of us to asses the other.  My assessment process might be a little more formalised than yours, but it is important to recognise that this is an opportunity for you to decide if you wish to continue with me as your therapist or if you wish to continue your search.

My background and training may simply not suit your needs and that is okay.