Melanie Poots

I am currently accepting new clients for online counselling.

I offer appointments outside standard working hours, with some limited daytime availability. Please get in touch to discuss current appointment times.

I also offer a free 15-minute initial consultation, which gives us an opportunity to briefly talk about what has brought you to counselling, what you are looking for, and whether we might work well together.

Perhaps you're used to being the person other people rely on. You manage, cope, care for others and keep things moving, but somewhere along the way there has been less space for you.

Maybe life has started to feel harder than it used to. You might be struggling with a relationship, feeling worn down by work or family life, or finding that the same difficulties seem to crop up again and again. Or perhaps nothing is obviously wrong. You just know that you're not feeling quite like yourself, and you'd like some space to think about why.

I'm an integrative psychotherapeutic counsellor, which means I don't believe one therapeutic approach fits everyone. I draw on different therapeutic perspectives, adapting how I work to you, your experiences and what you need from therapy. Central to my practice is the relationship we develop together. I see therapy as something we do collaboratively, rather than something that is done to you.

I have a particular interest in trauma, attachment and neurodiversity, including ADHD. I'm interested in how our earlier experiences and relationships can shape the way we see ourselves, respond to situations and relate to other people. Sometimes the ways we've learned to cope make a lot of sense when we understand where they came from, even when they're making life more difficult now.

Therapy gives us the opportunity to become curious about these things, rather than judging or criticising ourselves for them.

You don't need to arrive knowing exactly what you want to talk about. We can begin with what's happening for you now and see where that takes us.

Alongside my work as a counsellor, I bring more than 24 years' experience as a social worker, predominantly working with children and families. For the past 15 years I have worked as a Children's Guardian within the family courts. Earlier in my career, I worked in forensic mental health, including as an Advanced Social Worker and Team Manager within a secure psychiatric service.

Throughout my career I have worked alongside people during some of the most difficult and uncertain periods of their lives. This has given me a deep understanding of relationships, family dynamics, trauma, loss and adversity, as well as the pressures that can come with caring for others and carrying a lot of responsibility.

In my counselling practice, I work with adults experiencing anxiety, stress and burnout, relationship or family difficulties, separation and loss, low self-esteem, life changes, trauma and the impact of difficult earlier experiences. I also welcome people who don't necessarily have a particular 'problem' they can name, but want to understand themselves, their relationships or the way they experience the world a little better.

Sessions are 50 minutes and currently take place online. Some people know exactly what they want to explore when they first come to counselling; others don't. There is no expectation that you arrive with everything worked out.

I offer a free 15-minute initial consultation before we begin. This gives us a chance to meet, talk briefly about what has brought you to counselling and get a sense of whether we might work well together.

Our first session is an opportunity to begin exploring what has brought you to counselling and to get a sense of what it might be like for us to work together. You might already have a clear idea of what you want to talk about, or you may find it difficult to put into words. Both are completely fine.

I'll explain a little about how I work and we'll talk through some of the practical aspects of counselling, including confidentiality and our working agreement. From there, we can begin with whatever feels most important to you.

You don't have to tell me everything in our first session, and you don't need to know exactly what you want to change. We can focus on what feels most important to you and allow our work together to develop over time.