“I made the decision to begin working with a therapist in December of 2022. I was motivated to do so after spending much of the year in a serious depression over my career in teaching not panning out, as well as the subsequent malaise that came with unemployment. There were several nadirs during this period, including breakdowns, arguments and long periods of complete inactivity & isolation. After starting a new career, I had the funds to pursue therapy and was guided to a search directory that listed registered counsellors and therapists across the UK. I was struck by Joe’s bio, particularly his focus on taking an empathetic approach, and submitted a contact form. Joe responded promptly, and one initial phone call was enough for me to decide to pursue working with Joe from that February.

Beginning with remote sessions over Zoom, Joe’s patient & balanced approach left me feeling totally at ease during our work together. Going in with no prior experience of therapy, I was unsure whether there’d be a deficiency in effectiveness by not being in the room together. However, my worries were fruitless, and speaking with Joe over Zoom felt as natural and comforting as speaking in real life would.

I’d initially gone into the experience of therapeutic work with an openness to talk about anything, but really with the aim of getting over the previous year’s depression. In my mind, this should take no more than a few months. As we dived deeper through the years of my life prior to one particular dark period, Joe was adept in guiding me to understand how my past experiences all formed who I was. Not only that, but he gave me the opportunity to explore what I wanted and talked through how I could get there.

With all this in mind, my journey through therapy with Joe soon stopped being about getting over a few low points and instead became one journey to self-reliance. Writing this, I am struck by several key characteristics Joe brought to our work together, without which I would not be confident in my ability to move forward. Chief among these were Joe’s empathy and patience, as he listened to me speak for long periods without interruption. When Joe would eventually speak, it would be to ask questions or make accurate inferences based on things we’d previously spoken about (sometimes months prior). I felt understood in a way I’d not felt before, which stemmed from Joe’s patience in listening to me speak, and contributing to our discussions with things that showed a clear understanding of what I’d spoken about. Joe also displayed a tremendous amount of generosity in our work together, particularly in sharing resources with me. Some of these resources were simple techniques that we spoke about in sessions, some would be book recommendations, and some would be online papers or other types of resource. These formed staples I could use to continue our work toward my becoming a self-reliant individual even outside of our sessions. With Joe’s encouragement, I feel able to engage with and pursue these areas of psychology and apply them to my own life to better my experience.

I would lastly like to mention Joe’s flexibility in why I felt his work with me was so effective. Over numerous occasions where I wouldn’t be able to make it to a session, I found Joe was always flexible to moving our sessions to other days or to leave our work until the following week. I never felt pressured to cancel plans in order to stick to a rigid time slot. That flexibility really aided in allowing me to feel comfortable around Joe and understand our work was collaborative, and not just one way. To conclude, I would wholeheartedly recommend Joe as a therapist to anyone who feels they need to reach out and speak to someone. With a truly empathetic, patient, generous & flexible approach, Joe’s work with me has been one of the most pivotal factors in my own development and helped me become a happier, more self-reliant and more understanding person in my own right”.

- Anonymous 27.1.2025