Request an Appointment: A conversation can offer what a website cannot. I am more than happy to answer any questions you may have.

matlemare@hotmail.com
07983728572

Whether you're contacting me for the first time or returning for further support, I aim to make arranging an appointment as straightforward as possible.

You can view my availability above and request your preferred appointment time using the booking calendar.

How the booking process works

1. Choose your preferred appointment time using the booking calendar.

2. The booking system will notify me of your request. I'll then reserve a therapy room and personally confirm your appointment by email, usually within a few hours.

If I'm unable to confirm your preferred appointment time, I'll contact you as soon as possible with alternative appointment options.

If you're considering therapy with me and would like to talk things through before arranging your first appointment, you're very welcome to book a free 15-minute introductory phone conversation.

Thank you, and I look forward to hearing from you.

Yes, I have a lot of experience with working with infants, children, adolescents, adults and elders.

A Psychotherapy session gives you the opportunity to share anything that is going on for you. Whatever you want to share, I will listen to and help you reflect on.

The session will be at your pace and follow your agenda.

The session will last an hour, but I will always give you a time check five minutes before we are due to finish.

The psychotherapy that I offer is predominantly a talking therapy, but I will have paper and pens available if you want to explore any issues visually or through notetaking. If working online it would be useful if you had access to these – if you felt this would be helpful.

For more about Psychotherapy click here

Music Therapy provides an opportunity for you to work with what you bring to pcychotherapy in a more creative way. Sometimes putting what we are experiencing or feeling into words can be problematic. Music allows us to feel and process emotions without necessarily trying to make logical sense of what is going on. Sometimes expressing something through the lyrics of a song, or the sound and feel of a rhythm or beat is far easier than trying to explain it.

As your therapist I support you to explore through music what is important to you. Music Therapy is quite dynamic and may involve working seated, standing, or sitting on the floor. It can involve listening to and creating music and will always contain an element of reflection on the musical experience. This can be through words and or visual responses (see Supported Imagery in Music (SIM)).

Individual sessions last an hour, but I will always give you a time check five minutes before we are due to finish. I provide and maintain all instruments and equipment needed for safe music therapy practice. This includes acoustic, electric and digital instruments and equipment.

NB. The Bay Therapy Centre is not always an appropriate space for Music Therapy, so face-to-face sessions with be arranged in a mutually convenient and appropriate space.

For more about Music Therapy click here

A Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT) session gives you the opportunity to work with anything you want to bring to therapy, using the key understandings that inform this approach.

A CFT approach starts by examining useful ways of thinking about what you bring. This is referred to as Psychoeducation and introduces several useful models or lenses through which to see your current situation and concerns. This is designed to help you re-frame what you’re experiencing and make it more manageable.

You will then be taught several scientifically based practical techniques that help you to put into practice the new ways of thinking about and caring for yourself.

Finally, you will be supported to fine tune your responses as you apply the techniques in your life and how you think about situations.

CFT is a talking based therapy but utilises practical therapeutic exercises alongside deep listening and reflection. A session will last an hour, but I will always give you a time check five minutes before we are due to finish.

For more about CFT click here

If you have in-person face-to-face sessions at the Bay Therapy centre, you will report to reception and then wait in a designated reception area. At the time of your session, I will collect you from here and take you to the room where we will be working. This will be a quiet, private and safe space. We will usually be seated opposite each other on comfortable armchairs, and a variety of teas, coffee or water will be available for you if desired.

For more information about the Bay Therapy Centre facilities click here.

If you are having online or telephone sessions, I will call you at the session time or open the online meeting space. I use Zoom, or Teams and will send you a meeting link before we are due to meet.

I will be working in a private and confidential space during the session. As with in-person face-to-face sessions, I will give you a time check five minutes before we are due to finish. It is helpful if you are also calling or dialling in from a quiet and private space.

NB. The Bay Therapy Centre is not always an appropriate space for Music Therapy, so face-to-face sessions with be arranged in a mutually convenient and appropriate space.

I have extensive experience working with people who have received diagnoses and can adapt the way I work accordingly. You just let me know what you need. These diagnoses include:

Depression, Anxiety, Trauma, Neurodivergence, Autism, Dementia, Stroke, Post Traumatic Stress, Complex Trauma, Obsessive Compulsive, Bipolar, Complex Health Needs, Cancer …

Yes, that’s fine. We can structure the therapy around whatever you need. Here are some of the common things I have helped people with: Trauma, Shame, Self-criticism, Depression , Anxiety, Grief and Loss, Acquired Brain Injury, Autism, Neurodivergence, Dementia, Complex Trauma, Stroke, Chronic illness, Mental Health issues, Relationship issues, Post Traumatic Stress, Obsessive Compulsive, Issues around Identity, Low Mood, Self-esteem, Lack of Self Confidence, Bereavement, Sexual Abuse, Emotional Abuse , Physical Abuse, Neglect, Dissociation, Bipolar, Self-harming, Attachment Wounds, Anger Management, Complex Health Needs, Life-limiting illness, Palliative Care, Self care, Stress, Parenting, Domestic Abuse, Cancer, Adoption, Addiction Recovery, Chronic Pain, Eating Issues, Shyness, Child Development.

Yes, this is possible.

Sometimes as part of the ongoing review process, you may feel that you want to explore something in a different way, or I might feel that a technique or insight from another therapy might be useful. This would, of course, only happen by agreement.