Who am I?

Hello, my name is El Kirkham and I am a registered member of the COSRT (College of Sex and Relationship Therapists) counselling organization.  This qualifies me to work with individuals, relationships and families. I have been working for three years now as a therapist and have 20 yrs previous experience working as a teacher.  I am currently working towards accreditation. I have worked for Relationship Scotland, CRUSE Bereavement, TalkListenChange, and several secondary schools.  I am also a lecturer on a Masters in Relationship Therapy which means I am up-to-date with new ideas and techniques.  I hold a BA, Mphil and an MA in Relationship Therapy, I also have QTS and certificates in Child and Adolescent Mental Health and Mental Health First aid for adults and young people.  I have been trained in person-centred approaches to bereavement with CRUSE and am about to train as a supervisor with Relationship Scotland.

I work from a Systemic and psychodynamic approach which means I look at present contexts and relationships and their impact on individuals as well as past experiences.  I explore the influences of family, communities, institutions and wider society and how these make up our identity, our expectations, belief systems and the roles we play.

 I am passionate about inclusion and diversity and have experience of a wide range of SEN issues and relationship and sexual diversities.

 I work alongside you at your pace and have experience of working with*:

• Affairs

• Anxiety/depression

• Attachment

• Bereavement

• PTSD/Complex PTSD

• Difficult Family Relationships

• Divorce/separation, 

• Fertility issues

• GSERD relationships and LGBTQIA+ relationships

• Neurodiversity

•  trauma and abuse

• Sex and sexuality

• Gender identity

• School refusal

• Self harm/suicidality

• Domestic abuse (although I cannot work with outstanding court proceedings)

• SEN issues

*Please note that this is not an exhaustive list and I meet all issues with compassion and empathy.

How does it work?

This is your time and space for you to talk about anything you need to in safety and with support.  We start with a 4 week review period so that you can decide if this form of counselling is useful to you.

I offer long and short-term therapy sessions of 50 minutes. Sessions are confidential and I work in line with the BACP and COSRT ethical guidelines.

Payment: Currently I charge £55-00 for individual counselling, £65-00 for relationships and £75-00 for Families.  Discounts are available for online sessions.

Availability: Currently I am available Wednesdays during the day online and Wednesday evening 5-9pm face-to-face at Cornerstone in Greystones.