Areas I work with
Your relationships with others
Our relationships with other people are at the heart of what it means to be human. They can be a source of great joy and connection — and also of real pain. If you are finding relationships difficult, therapy can offer a space to understand what is getting in the way and to begin to change it.
Why relationships can be so hard
The patterns we develop in our earliest relationships tend to follow us. The way we learned to attach to others, to manage conflict, to ask for what we need — or to hide it — shapes how we show up in every relationship we have as adults.
Therapy offers a space to look at those patterns with curiosity rather than judgement. Understanding where they came from is often the first step towards being able to do something different.
What I can help with
Romantic relationships and intimacy
Difficulties with closeness, trust, or vulnerability in romantic relationships. This might include fear of commitment, patterns of conflict, emotional distance, or a sense of never quite feeling secure with a partner.
Family relationships
Complex, painful, or estranged relationships with parents, siblings, or other family members. Therapy can help you make sense of family dynamics and find a way of relating to them — or to their legacy — that feels more bearable.
Friendships
Difficulty forming or maintaining friendships, a sense of not quite fitting in, or the pain of a friendship that has broken down. These experiences can be quietly devastating and are often underestimated.
Work relationships
Conflict with colleagues or managers, difficulty asserting yourself at work, or a sense of not belonging in your professional environment. Work relationships can have a significant impact on wellbeing and are worth taking seriously.
Loneliness and isolation
A persistent sense of being disconnected from others, even when surrounded by people. Loneliness is one of the most painful human experiences, and therapy can help you understand what is keeping connection at bay.
Attachment patterns
Anxious, avoidant, or disorganised patterns of relating that leave you feeling unsettled in relationships. Understanding your attachment style can be a powerful starting point for change.
Conflict and communication
Difficulty expressing needs, managing disagreement, or recovering from ruptures in relationships. Therapy can help you understand your own patterns in conflict and find more effective ways of communicating.
Codependency
A tendency to lose yourself in relationships — prioritising others' needs to the exclusion of your own, or finding it hard to function independently. Therapy can help you develop a stronger sense of self within your relationships.
— Leah Clements
How I work
I work in an integrative and existential way, drawing on a range of therapeutic approaches to work in a manner that is tailored to you. Relational difficulties are often rooted in early experience, and I am interested in understanding not just what is happening in your relationships now, but how your history has shaped the way you relate to others.
The therapeutic relationship itself is an important part of this work. The experience of being in a consistent, honest, and boundaried relationship with a therapist can offer something genuinely new and a different kind of relational experience that can begin to shift long-standing patterns.
Ready to take the first step?
If any of this resonates, I would be glad to hear from you. You are welcome to get in touch with a brief message about what has brought you here — there is no obligation, and no pressure.