About Try Talking

A number of counselling services focus on traumatic events and these are essential for those who have been unfortunate enough to have experienced horrendous things, but I am passionate about helping those who are struggling with the more everyday changes that happen in life.

Whether you know change is coming or someone else determines your change in circumstance, I believe it is important to recognise the impact and how it makes you feel to enable you to deal with it and come out the other side feeling capable and confident in yourself.

I can share two significant personal experiences with you that have influenced the therapeutic support we offer at Try Talking.

Firstly I experienced a significant career change triggered by a conflict in the way my organisation was treating people and a lack of positive inspiration. After a period of deep reflection I recognised there were some things I liked about my job and some things I felt I had missed out on because of my career.

The things I liked were all based around supporting and enabling other people develop and reach their potential. The things I felt I missed out on were all related to the number of hours I worked and the lack of flexibility I had as a result. I felt I had missed out on family life and creative hobbies I loved.

Another dominant aspect of my life is my love for sport and specifically Rugby Union, but as all sport people know, playing days don’t last forever so reflecting on life after being on the pitch also become important.

My conclusion was that I needed to go back to university to focus on developing a new profession helping other people and explore how this could be applied to a sporting context.

This sounds very decisive but I can assure you this developed out of a very unhappy version of myself, seeking something more fulfilling but also such a life changing decision brought with it financial risk and insecurity that was anxiety inducing.

The second experienced I have hinted at already but during my period of re-education and professional practice development I took the therapeutic opportunities available to me and explored my preparation for sporting retirement.

It took me at least 5 years to come to terms with my transition out of sport, starting with a realisation that to maintain a position in the starting line-up I had to train harder and more frequently than my younger team mates, and acknowledging the impracticalities of that regime. Followed by an appreciation for what my sporting life had done for me and celebrating the opportunity that I had maximised. Which lead to a reprioritisation and my development of a more multifaceted identity for myself, that didn’t rely on sporting success to be satisfied, but explored all those other interests and relationships I had sacrificed over the years.

In sharing these experiences I hope to initiate a positive and trusting relationship with any potential clients or partners.

I look forward to working with new clients and partners, learning about each unique experience and being a supportive and reflective companion.