Hi, I’m Joe
About Me
Hi, I’m Joe, a qualified counsellor, registered member of the BACP and an autistic person myself.
My own experience of discovering I was autistic as an adult has had a big influence on who I am and how I work as a counsellor. For a long time, I didn't always understand why I experienced certain situations differently, why emotions could feel difficult to manage, or why some things that seemed straightforward for other people could feel much harder for me.
Understanding my own neurodiversity helped me start looking at myself differently. Instead of asking what was wrong with me, I started asking why I experienced the world the way I did.
That experience is something I bring into my counselling work.
I have a particular interest in neurodiversity and supporting people who are trying to understand themselves, whether they are autistic, have ADHD, questioning whether they may be neurodivergent, or have received a diagnosis later in life.
I don't believe a diagnosis tells you everything about a person. Everyone experiences neurodiversity differently, and that's why I like to get to know the individual as a whole.
I want to understand how you experience the world, your relationships, your emotions, your interests, the things you find difficult and the things that make you feel like yourself.
As an autistic counsellor, I can bring my own lived experience alongside my professional counselling skills. But I never assume that because something is part of my experience, it will be the same for you. Your experience is your own, and getting to understand that is what matters to me.
My approach is person-centred, warm and down to earth. I don't believe counselling should be about telling you what to do or trying to change who you are. Instead, I want to create a space where you can talk openly, make sense of what you're experiencing and explore what might work for you.
You might come to counselling because you're struggling with anxiety, stress, relationships, emotions or feeling overwhelmed. You might be trying to understand a late autism diagnosis, exploring ADHD, dealing with masking or simply trying to understand why life sometimes feels more difficult than it seems for other people.
You don't need to have all the answers before you come to counselling.
You don't even need to know exactly what you want to talk about.
We can start with a conversation and take it from there.
For me, counselling is about getting to know the person behind the diagnosis, the difficulties and the labels.
It's about understanding you as an individual and how you experience the world.
Most importantly, you can come as you are.
What it means to be BACP-registered
You might see the letters BACP after my name and wonder what they actually mean for you. So here it is in plain English.
I'm a fully qualified counsellor and a registered member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (the BACP for short). That's the UK's largest professional body for counselling.
Being registered isn't just a badge. It means:
I've met strict training standards – you're not seeing someone who did a quick online course and called it a day.
I follow their ethical framework – that's a fancy way of saying I'm committed to keeping you safe, respecting your privacy, and being honest with you.
I'm regularly supervised – I have a qualified, experienced supervisor who helps me think through my work so I can be the best possible support for you.
I keep learning – I don't just qualify and stop. I do ongoing training to stay up to date and keep improving.
You have somewhere to go if something goes wrong – on the very small chance you ever had a complaint about me, the BACP has a proper process to handle it.
For you, it boils down to this: you can feel safer knowing I've been properly trained, I'm checked on, and I take my work seriously.
It's not about being perfect – no therapist is. It's about being professional, trustworthy, and accountable. And that matters when you're sharing the important stuff with someone.