Gender & sexuality counselling

Affirmative counselling for questions of gender and sexuality, in a space where you don't have to explain or defend who you are.

An affirmative space

Affirmative means that the starting point is acceptance. The aim is never to question, test or change your gender or sexuality, but to give you room to understand it and live it more fully. You should not have to educate your counsellor about your own life, or brace yourself for judgement, in order to be helped.

Sometimes gender or sexuality is the reason someone comes to counselling. Just as often it isn't the presenting issue at all — it's simply part of who you are, and you want a therapist who takes that as read while you work on something else entirely.

What people bring

• Coming out, or exploring gender or sexuality that is still uncertain or in motion
• The strain of not being accepted, or of anticipating that you won't be
• Minority stress — the wearing effect of prejudice, vigilance and having to explain yourself
• Family, faith or cultural expectations that sit in tension with who you are
• Relationships, intimacy, and questions that touch on both identity and connection
• Everyday difficulties — anxiety, low mood, grief — carried by someone who wants an affirmative therapist

Who is welcome

All identities and orientations. I also offer affirmative counselling for people in consensually non-monogamous and polyamorous relationships, for sex workers, and for people whose lives and relationships fall outside conventional expectations. Whoever you are and however you live and love, you're welcome here.

How I work

The work is collaborative and unhurried, and it starts from your experience as you actually live it rather than from any theory about it. My background in anthropology means I pay particular attention to the social and cultural pressures that shape how gender and sexuality are lived — which can matter a great deal when identity meets family, faith, migration or community.

Practical details

Sessions are £80 for 50 minutes, with a limited number of concession places at £65. Available online across the UK and as walk-and-talk sessions in Edinburgh, in English and Italian.

A note on what I can and can't offer: I work with adults experiencing mild to moderate difficulties. As a counsellor I don't provide diagnoses or prescribe medication, and some situations need specialist or multidisciplinary care instead. If you're unsure whether this is the right fit, just ask — we can think it through together. More detail in the questions on the main page.

Related: identity counselling · polyamory & non-monogamy counselling · therapy in Italian.