When thinking of what to call my private counselling practice, I knew that I wanted to dedicate the name to someone in my life who has been the driving force behind my own personal change. Both as a counsellor, but also in my other professional roles, I aim to give to others the same wisdom, gentleness and kindness that this person has always given to me.

Beyond this, I like the image of a ‘stoney meadow’ – both the freedom that an open expanse of grass and flowers under blue sky suggests, but also that the presence of stones, whilst usually grey and dull, do not detract from the meadow’s beauty, but rather make it more interesting to explore. In fact, many of us will have roamed the beach and found rocks and pebbles that seem unattractive at first glance, but on closer inspection are quite appealing and fascinating – to me this represents the supposed flaws in our characters, or challenging life experiences that, when viewed differently, can be seen in a different light.

The central principle of Transactional Analysis is “I’m OK, You’re OK” – this means that like the stones in the meadow, I appreciate and welcome all aspects of you – your thoughts, feelings, behaviours and experiences – into the therapy room.