Stephen Brookes

My name is Stephen and I'm a fully qualified, BACP-accredited counsellor and psychotherapist. I've been working with clients since 2018, drawing on my own background as a military veteran, my time in the charity sector, and my lived experience as a person living with a disability.

I work with people affected by disability and trauma, whether that disability has been present from birth or acquired later in life, and I have a particular interest in spinal cord injury. I understand, both personally and professionally, that living with a disability, whatever its cause, touches every part of life: your sense of identity, your relationships, how you're treated by healthcare professionals and the wider world, and how you feel in your own body. My approach is biopsychosocial, which simply means I look at the whole of you, not just a diagnosis or injury. I pay attention to your physical health, your thoughts and feelings, and the relationships and circumstances around you, because all of these affect each other and your overall wellbeing. Therapy with me isn't just about talking through what's happened. It's about finding a space where you don't have to explain or justify your experience before we can even begin.

I don't follow a fixed script or a set of exercises. Instead, I use an approach that focuses on what's happening for you right now, as well as understanding the impact of past events and worries about the future. This means we'll pay close attention to how you're feeling in the moment, not just what you're saying, and we'll work at a pace that suits you.

I'm warm, direct and collaborative. I'll gently challenge you where it's helpful, but I won't push you anywhere you're not ready to go. Above all, I want you to feel genuinely understood, not like you're educating me about disability or trauma from scratch.

I offer counselling and psychotherapy to adults, both short-term and long-term, online, by phone or in person. Counselling tends to focus on a specific issue or decision, while psychotherapy looks at deeper or longer-standing patterns to help you understand yourself more fully. In practice, the two often blend together, and we'll shape the work around what you need.

My main approach draws on humanistic and Gestalt therapy, alongside a flexible, pluralistic style that adapts to you rather than fitting you into one fixed method. In plain terms, this means:

● Awareness: helping you notice patterns in your thoughts, feelings and behaviour that you might not have seen clearly before.

● The present moment: paying attention to what's happening for you now, rather than only analysing the past.

● Responsibility: supporting you to make choices that feel genuinely yours.

● Integration: bringing together the emotional, physical and mental sides of your experience, especially important when living with pain, fatigue or a changed relationship with your body.

● Relationship: using the connection between us to help you understand your wider relationships and rebuild trust.

As a disabled therapist myself, I know therapy doesn't always get this right. Clients have told me they've felt misunderstood, had their anger mistaken for denial, or been left to educate their therapist about what disability actually means. I work hard to avoid this. Together, we'll adapt sessions to suit you: timing, pacing, energy levels, breaks and how much you want to disclose, so therapy fits your life rather than the other way around.

Sessions usually last 50 minutes. I can help with trauma, spinal cord injury, disability and impairment, chronic pain, identity, isolation, low mood, anxiety, anger and adjusting to life changes, among other things.

Reaching out for support can feel like a big step, especially if you've had therapy before that didn't understand your experience of disability or trauma. My aim for our first session is simple: to help you feel comfortable, and to give you a clear sense of how we might work together.

We'll start with a conversation rather than a formal assessment. I'll ask about what's brought you to therapy, what you're hoping for, and any concerns or questions you have, including practical ones. This is also the time to tell me about anything that would make sessions more accessible for you, whether that's timing, session length, breaks, how we communicate, or your energy levels on any given day. Nothing is fixed in advance; we'll figure it out together.

We'll also talk about what a humanistic and Gestalt approach involves, in everyday language, so you know what to expect and can ask anything that's unclear.

If it feels like a good fit for both of us, we'll agree a regular time to meet, either online, by phone, or in person, depending on what works best for you. Sessions are currently available Monday to Friday, 9am to 6pm.

There's no obligation to continue after this first conversation. Therapy works best when it's genuinely right for you, and I'd rather you take the time you need to decide than feel pressured into anything.