Michelle Rudd

I hold my weekday sessions between 10am and 7pm and am available on a Saturday until 5pm at a 50% premium on my usual rate.

Individual Therapy £60 per session

Relationship Therapy £80 per session

I am a compassionate and highly skilled therapist specializing in individual and relationship therapy. I am dedicated to helping clients navigate complex relationship issues, enhance communication, and foster deeper connections. My inclusive and non-judgmental approach is tailored to meet the unique needs of each client, ensuring a safe and supportive environment for all. Life can be tough - depression, anxiety, trauma, grief - the list can go on and on. Relationships can lose their way, and the daily work of human interconnection can become challenging. Maybe you have reached crisis point and need to find a way to work towards a happier future. If you are looking for a therapist, I am guessing that you are tired of trying to find a way out of your distress alone. I would like to congratulate you on taking the first, and probably the hardest, step - reaching out for help. I hope I can provide what you're looking for. I understand that emotional distress can have a far reaching and profound effect, but I am absolutely sure that there is hope for a future of joy, peace, and recovery. My goal is for my clients to leave each of our sessions with the knowledge that they are safe, understood, and respected and that this will help them to discover their own emotional safe place, self-knowledge, self-respect and a way forward. I believe that everyone is the expert on their own experience. I won't tell you what to do, and I certainly won't judge you, whatever you tell me. Together we can make a map and take a few steps on the road towards whatever outcome you are seeking.

I am gender-affirming, kink-aware, polyamory positive and LGBTQ+ friendly and have experience with working with clients with a range of neurodiversity. Please don't sit and wonder if this therapist will accept you as you are, a whole person. The answer is yes!

- Relationship Problems: Addressing conflicts, misunderstandings, and emotional disconnections to build healthier, more fulfilling relationships.

- Communication: Teaching effective communication techniques to enhance understanding and empathy between partners.

- Infidelity: Guiding couples through the healing process after an affair, rebuilding trust and intimacy.

- Sex and Intimacy: Helping clients overcome sexual difficulties and improve their intimate relationships.

- LGBTQ+ Affirming: Providing a supportive space for LGBTQ+ individuals, couples and polycules to explore their identities and relationships without fear of judgment.

- Polyamory and Ethically Non-Monogamous Relationships: Offering guidance and support for clients in polyamorous, open relationships and ethically non-monogamous, helping them navigate the unique challenges and dynamics of non-monogamy.

- Kink and BDSM: Creating an accepting environment for clients involved in kink and BDSM communities, addressing their specific needs and fostering healthy, consensual practices.

- Neurodiversity: Working with neurodiverse individuals and couples to understand and address their unique relationship and communication challenges, promoting neurodiversity-affirmative practices.

I believe that every individual and every relationship is unique and deserving of respect and understanding. By fostering an atmosphere of empathy and openness and using an integrative counselling approach that blends person-centered, psychodynamic, systemic, object relations, and attachment theories, I aim to help clients discover their strengths, overcome their challenges, and build lasting, meaningful connections 

Our very first session will consist of a free 15 minute meeting, usually either online or by telephone, so that we can get an idea of whether we can work together effectively.  It will give you the opportunity to tell me why you are seeking counselling now and what you hope will be different for you as a result of our work.  It doesn't matter if you don't have a clear goal, and just want to "feel better" - often a person who is in distress will find it difficult to pin down firm ideas of a better future.  Together we can work out what "better" looks like, and take steps to work towards that picture.  Sometimes in relationship difficulties, clients are sure of what needs to change and what they want to achieve.  However sometimes each person wants something different.  I aim to help you to find strategies to work towards communicating your needs with each other and finding a way forwards which works for each individual. 

Once we begin our regular sessions we will meet for 50 minutes usually weekly.  In relationship therapy I always meet with participants individually for at least one session each in the first instance to get an idea of what the individual is looking to change about their situation.  Occasionally it is necessary to move between individual sessions and joint sessions as we proceed, in order that each person feels heard and understood, and that we work safely together towards the best outcome for all concerned.

Therapy will be your regular investment in your wellbeing.  Sometimes clients tell me that being really listened to for an hour is a whole new experience. At the beginning of our first session we will discuss our counselling contract, that is the way we will work together, and our boundaries.  You will have an opportunity to ask questions and make sure that you are comfortable with the process.  The rest is your time and your opportunity to give voice to the things that have been making you unhappy.  This is just the first step - your journey starts from here.