LOCATION: Online
AVAILABILITY: Mondays 6pm-9pm and Tuesdays 9am-2pm
PRICE: £55 per session
SPECIALISMS:
Perinatal and Parenting
Sexual Abuse and Violence
Transitions to Adulthood
Anxiety
Depression
Self-esteem
Identity
Grief and Loss
Eating Disorders
Shame

Training

Tierney trained as a humanistic counsellor at the University of Brighton and has worked has worked in a number of settings over the years including Survivors Network, Samaritans and As You Are.

Alongside her private practice Tierney works as a counsellor at a music college supporting young adults during their studies.

Tierney enjoys taking regular training courses to increase her breadth of knowledge and understanding in areas such as self-injury, dissociation, shame, eating disorders and attachment.

Approach

People normally arrive in therapy with a certain issue they wish to explore. Following the client's lead is certainly part of how Tierney works and at the same time the Humanistic tradition focuses on you as a whole - rather than just the issue at hand. It emphasises choice, responsibility and subjectivity. Central to the Humanistic approach is honouring the collaborative relationship between counsellor and client as pivotal to the healing process.

Before training as a therapist, Tierney studied English Literature and is passionate about the power of storytelling, language and the ability they have to influence and create change. A lot of people carry around a story that they have not created themselves – one that they have been told and believed to be the truth. Therapy can give you a confidential and accepting space to begin to re-narrate your life and tell your story as you experienced it.

Perinatal and Parenting

Tierney has a passion for supporting parents through all stages of pregnancy and parenting, from the often ignored struggles of pregnancy and myriad emotions it brings, to caring for older children and teens. There is growing understanding, thankfully, of post-partum depression but pre-partum often holds more stigma and parents of older children can often feel less supported when their child outgrows the many advice books on newborns. Tierney holds space for whatever your parenting experience is and invites you to look inward to the impacts that doing this challenging job have on you. Tierney has worked with clients to normalise maternal-rage, navigate confusing emotions during pregnancy and the overwhelm and stress that issues such as school refusal can have upon them and their lives.

Sexual Abuse and Violence

Having worked with those who have experienced sexual violence and abuse (both recent and historical) for a number of years, Tierney understands the importance of having a space to reflect on what has happened and offers acceptance and warmth to enable the exploration of such feelings.

Tierney is a firm believer in taking the sessions at your pace own and she works with the client to ensure that the client feels comfortable before any disclosures take place. There will never be a pressure to talk about things you are not ready to discuss.

Tierney is familiar with many trauma responses that can arise from the experience of sexual abuse and/or violence such as dissociation, shame, self-harm, and self-injury and can work with you to explore these; considering what they offer you and if there are other ways you can manage the pain that has been caused. Quite often the anger and shame that is felt after having been hurt can be turned in on ourselves; Tierney invites and encourage the exploration of another way.

Transitions to Adulthood

Tierney has over ten years of experience working with university-aged students as they move through this tricky and sometimes challenging stage of life.

There is an expectation in society that as soon as you are 18 you are an adult and responsibilities and expectations of you change – but you and your ability to manage things do not change overnight like a switch being flicked.

Tierney understands that this time can be full of excitement and new experiences but with those can come a huge amount of uncertainty – managing your own time and finances; meeting new people in unfamiliar environments; homesickness and loneliness; finding yourself and forging an identity; peer pressure to act a certain way, which may lead to reliance on substances.

In addition to this, the world can seem like a very hostile place, the climate crisis and war can make things seem hopeless and the Covid-19 pandemic means that those entering university have been through a pivotal stage of their development during the hardest and most uncertain of times.

Tierney offers a space in which to explore your hopes and fears, where your voice really matters and there are no expectations upon you.

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