My Approach
I’m Sophie - an existential and perinatal psychotherapist based in Bristol, UK.
I work with people who feel stuck in the messy and the meaningful places of life: those with questions that keep them awake, the small and large griefs, the shame that lingers in the periphery, the parenting fears they weren’t prepared for, and the existential wobbles that make everything feel simultaneously urgent and absurd. I value honesty, empathy, and finding the levity in the depths. In our conversations I will be direct when it helps, warm when it heals, and gently irreverent when that’s what it takes to loosen a tight knot.
I bring existential therapy’s focus on meaning, choice, responsibility, and the limits of control, in a relational and trauma-informed package. We’ll look at how your life circumstances, past experiences, and current relationships shape your sense of self and possibility. I will help you name what’s happening, explore what’s possible, and try small, manageable experiments in how you live and relate. I won’t coddle unhelpful stories, but I will hold them kindly. You can expect clarity, compassionate challenge, and the occasional nudge that might make you laugh.
I offer face-to-face sessions in Bristol and online sessions for clients nationwide.
Practice Streams
General Existential Psychotherapy
This stream is for people facing questions (big or small) about meaning, identity, mortality, freedom, isolation, and responsibility. Common reasons people come to me include feeling directionless, overwhelmed by choice, haunted by regret, living with chronic anxiety or depression that raises existential questions, or navigating major life changes (relationship changes, career shifts, illness, loss, etc.).
Through our conversations we will clarify your values and what matters to you in the here and now. We will explore how avoidance, shame, and past patterns limit your options, and we will build your capacity to tolerate uncertainty and to act with intention despite fear.
Perinatal Psychotherapy
This stream supports people through early parenthood (conception to 24 months post-partum). It is also suitable for people pre-conception who have had fertility challenges, previous losses, or complex feelings about the decision to become a parent.
Pregnancy and early parenthood often bring identity shifts, exhausted resources, and unexpected sorrows alongside joy; exploring who you are through these changes can strengthen resilience and help you find more enjoyment and connection in your life now. I work with parents experiencing anxiety, low mood, birth trauma, loss, difficulties with bonding, parenting doubt, and complex feelings that don’t fit with what they expected to feel. I combine existential questions about meaning and self with sensitivity to the unique emotional, bodily, and relational terrain of the perinatal period, so we can attend to both how life is changing and how you want to live within those changes.
In our conversations we will create a safe space to hold any feelings about pregnancy, birth, and parenthood. We will process difficult pregnancy and birth experiences, and support you through the identity shifts, changes in partner dynamics, and general life disruption that marks the transition into parenthood.
Training & Memberships
BSc (Hons) Psychology (1st Class)
MSc Molecular Neuroscience
Diploma in Therapeutic Counselling
Diploma in Counselling Children and Young People
CPD in Perinatal Mental Health
Accredited Member of the National Society for Counselling & Psychotherapy (MNCPS Acc.)
Graduate member of the British Psychological Society (GMBPsS)
Member of the Climate Psychology Alliance
