About Me

Hello and welcome. I'm Stewart, a NCPS accredited pluralistic psychotherapeutic counsellor based in Manchester. I founded Honest Therapy Centre with the aim of creating a space for people looking to make meaningful change in their lives.

As part of my training to become a counsellor, I volunteered with children and young people's charity Place2Be in a primary school and with the charity LGBT Foundation, working with LGBTQIA+ adults on a variety of issues.

Prior to undertaking my four years of therapy training, I worked in hospitality, managing teams across hotels, bars and restaurants. I also have experience working in LGBTQIA+ nightlife and I understand the toll these working environments and associated lifestyles can sometimes take on your mental health and wellbeing.

I grew up as the child of a military family so I know what it's like to move around a lot, to struggle to form and maintain relationships, and to feel distant from a parent who's often away on deployment. I faced homophobia as a young man and understand what it's like to carry the trauma of that experience around for years afterwards. I worked myself to complete burnout for a boss who expected me to give my entire life to a job, then made me redundant when I tried to put boundaries in place.

I've chosen to share these experiences with you to show you that first and foremost I'm a person who's lived a life and faced challenges, just like you. I didn't simply decide to become a therapist out of university. Therapy is my vocation; the culmination of what to do with all the lessons I've learned from all the experiences that have shaped me.

I strongly believe that our physical, mental, emotional and spiritual wellbeing need to be in balance for us to thrive. I trained as a reiki healer so that I could offer my clients a holistic approach to their self-care. Talking about your issues can often bring up some difficult and challenging emotions and reiki can be a gentle way for you to process these emotions and release them safely. I also employ hypnotherapy where appropriate, to help my clients shift their thinking and remove or reduce any problematic issues.

You might choose to work with me if you are experiencing difficulties in areas such as work or relationships, anxiety (including social anxiety), grief, depression, low self esteem, low self confidence and lack of motivation. You may just be feeling sad or low and simply don't know where to start. The aim of therapy is to explore the causes of these uncomfortable emotions in a safe environment. I invite you to contact me if this sounds like something you'd be interested in exploring.