Meet Joel
Hi, I'm Joel, a BACP-Accredited Therapist, MBACP (Accred) and Certified Professional Coach (CPC) working in Clapham (London), Tonbridge (Kent) and online. I work with adults in short, medium and long term therapy, with particular specialisms in addiction and recovery (including twelve-step frameworks), codependency*, confidence and self-esteem, and neurodivergence; alongside men's issues and relationship difficulties. In my experience, the anxiety and low mood that bring many people to therapy are often the surface of these deeper patterns, and working at that deeper level is where change tends to last.
*Codependency is being overly focused on taking care of others at the expense of one's own happiness, often relying on the approval of others for sense of worth.
I bring my own lived experience of neurodivergence to this work, alongside ongoing CPD and research. This often overlaps with my longer-standing specialisms in addiction, codependency and self-esteem. Many of the autistic and ADHD adults I work with arrived at therapy after years of being told stories about themselves such as "lazy", "too sensitive", "not trying", and part of the work is often untangling the pain of those experiences from the reality of who they are today. You can read more about how I work with neurodivergence here.
With a 25+ year career in education, training, coaching and therapy, I'm passionate about education and all forms of personal growth, supporting people in different contexts to develop themselves and be fulfilled in their lives. I'm also the founder of Tonbridge Counselling Hub, supporting the local community with therapists offering face-to-face and online counselling, including a number of lower cost spaces for those who cannot afford full cost.
My style is relaxed, friendly, empathic and creative. I love stimulating insight and self-awareness with clients, often using different tools and techniques in sessions to support this.
My practice can be described as integrative and relational with a person-centred core. The person-centred tradition believes individuals have a natural tendency towards their own well-being and growth, and that my job as a therapist is to help you connect or reconnect with this powerful human drive.
I offer a free 20 minute initial chat, to find out if we may be a good fit to work together and to answer any questions you may have. I look forward to hearing from you. You can contact me here.