Dominic Tooze

Availability online and in person on Tuesdays and Fridays

My route into counselling started when I first experienced counselling as a client. I found it genuinely useful to have somewhere to talk openly, feel listened to, and make sense of what was going on without feeling like I had to have everything figured out already.

Before becoming a counsellor, I worked in education and the charity sector, supporting people in all sorts of circumstances. I qualified with a postgraduate diploma in Humanistic Counselling from York St John University in March 2026, having previously completed Levels 2 and 3 with York Learning. I have been working with clients since January 2024.

I’m not particularly formal in my approach. I don’t adopt a special ‘therapist persona’, and I think the relationship between us is an important part of the work. I take counselling seriously, but I don’t think every session needs to feel completely serious. There can be humour, honesty, curiosity and the occasional bit of silliness, alongside more difficult or challenging conversations.

I work in a person-centred way and will be led by you. I’m interested in your actual experience: what things feel like for you, what you notice, what you do, what you avoid, and what happens in your relationships.

I also try not to get too hung up on therapy language or diagnoses. They can be useful, but they don’t tell the whole story. I’m more interested in what something means to you and how it affects your life.

I’m aware too that not everything difficult comes from something within us that needs fixing. Our relationships, work, money, discrimination, inequality, family and the wider world can all affect how we feel and the choices available to us. I think there should be room to talk about those things in therapy.

I work in an LGBTQIA+ affirming and neurodiversity-affirming way. Ultimately, I want to understand the person in front of me rather than making assumptions based on a label, diagnosis or idea of what someone is supposed to be like.

I’m broadly person-centred, and my role isn’t to tell you what to think or how to live. I’m there to listen, help you make sense of what’s going on, and notice things alongside you.

Sometimes that might mean reflecting something back that you hadn’t noticed, or asking a question that makes you stop and think. Sometimes it might just mean sitting with something that’s difficult.

I take what brings you to therapy seriously, but I don’t think therapy needs to feel overly clinical or heavy. I’m interested in creating a relationship where you can be yourself, where there is room for honesty and humour, and where we can talk about the things that actually matter to you.

Our first interaction will be a free 20 minute consultation - typically over the phone or a video call. 

In this call we'll both introduce ourselves, I'll tell you about how I work, and there will be space for us to share anything important and ask any questions - there's no such thing as a silly question!

Once we have done this, you can decide if you're happy to continue - if so, we would book in our sessions and go from there.