Polly McAfee

I currently have availability to see clients online and in person. Feel free to contact me to arrange a free half hour zoom call to see whether we are a good fit. 

I am an experienced integrative counsellor with a specialism in working with sexual and relationship issues. 

Starting therapy is hard. Accepting that you want help.  Finding someone you respect and feel that you can open up to; someone who will both support and challenge you. Making the commitment to yourself. Budgeting. Accepting that it isn't likely to be a quick fix. All these things are hard and I am aware that you will first meet me with many doubts in your mind. So the best I can do here is explain a little about myself and how I conceive therapy. 

I see therapy fundamentally as a process of self-acceptance. Becoming aware of how we habitually respond, what has informed that, and what choices we want to make, now, in our lives and relationships going forward. To do that I think it helps to notice what is going on in our body, as well as our mind, heart, reactivity and what we might call our spirit or soul. Whether I am working with you as an individual or a couple - or other relationship - I will encourage you to connect with these aspects of yourself and the wisdom they hold. I will support you to find the courage to live authentically and to communicate your real desires and feelings. 

Clients have described their work with me as transformative. They have described me as gentle, calm and clear. Ultimately, though, you will have to meet me to know whether you feel I am the right person to help you or not. That is why I offer a free half hour zoom call for that purpose, with absolutely no offence taken if the fit isn't right. 

I work both online and in person from my home clinic in Ashburton, Devon. I find that online work can be just as effective as in person, providing the client allows time before to prepare, and after to reflect - time that is built in if you are attending in person, but can easily be lost when working online. 

Sessions are 60 minutes for individuals, and up to 90 minutes for couples and other relationships. 

Clients often find it helpful to deconstruct norms and values they have unwittingly inherited, and my diversity-affirming stance lends itself well to working with queer folk and those in non-traditional relationship structures. Having said that, questioning automatic assumptions and scripts can be liberating for all types of relationships and people of all identities! 

I suggest a free half hour session on zoom to explore whether we are the right fit. I will encourage you to go away and sleep on this, and if we both wish to proceed, we can do so. 

In the first couple of sessions I will ask more questions, to give me a sense of the history of what you are bringing, and its scope. However I am not working from a questionnaire.