Zoe Flint

There are many different approaches to therapy but research has shown time and again that the most important ingredient is the relationship. I offer a free consultation so you can get a sense of who I am, how I work and whether we might be a good fit. Please ask if my fee is unaffordable for you. I believe counselling should be accessible and am open to negotiation.

Everyone comes to counselling with a different set of hopes, needs and expectations: you may need support with a particular situation, decision or relationship; you may feel stuck, repeating patterns over and over, finding it hard to break the cycle; you may constantly relive the past or worry about the future and want to be more present.

I believe we learn and grow via our relationships and the same applies in counselling: it is the relationship of trust and safety created between us which enables change and growth. I am an integrative counsellor meaning I have various ways of working which I adapt to meet each person's needs. 

When recurring thoughts, feelings or behaviours are hard to manage, it can be because we learnt coping strategies in the past which are no longer useful. My role is to support and guide you as you explore whatever experience or situation brought you here and investigate what might be going on behind the scenes.

We tend to avoid difficult emotions and memories because experiencing them is painful, but they usually make themselves known somehow. We can try to contain them in other ways, perhaps lose ourselves in work, alcohol, drugs, sex, shopping, cleaning, social media, etc. Some have the additional stress of an identity which is stigmatised and marginalised in our society.

Revisiting early relationships is invaluable. What did your parents, caregivers, culture teach you about life, about relationships? What did you come to believe about yourself? What did you have to do to fit in or be loved? Are you still doing it now and what might it be costing you?