Mel Perks

Therapist Directory Listing Category: Psychotherapists and Counsellors

About the Therapist

About the therapist:

Therapy with me is collaborative, exploratory, and paced with care. I don’t offer quick fixes or surface-level solutions, but instead work with clients to gradually understand the deeper patterns and meanings in their emotional lives. I pay close attention to what is spoken and unspoken — including the body, silences, and histories that may not yet have words.

I aim to offer a therapeutic space that is non-pathologising, socially aware, and attentive to the many forces that shape our internal and external lives.

Sexual identity:

Queer

Gender identity: Non-binary

Gender history: Not as assigned at birth

Non-monogamy: No

Intersex: No

Neurodivergent: Unsure

Personal pronouns: They/Them

Qualifications - Links to websites:

I am an Applied Psychologist (BSc) who did further postgraduate training with The Society for Social Critical Psychoanalysis: https://www.sscp.uk/

I am now a UKCP registered Psychoanalytic Psychotherapist: https://www.psychotherapy.org.uk/therapist/Mel-Perks-F7ULAAA3#:~:text=My%20Approach&text=I%20offer%20both%20short%20term,will%20really%20listen%20to%20us.

I have also completed the three part training in EMDR: https://www.emdr-training.com/

This is my current website: https://psychotherapy-by-the-sea.com/

Qualifications - Additional:

Experience and approach:

I currently offer sessions online, which allows for flexibility while maintaining depth and continuity in the work.

I offer both short and long term psychoanalytic psychotherapy sessions.

Using free association, conversational and embodied approaches the sessions aim to help you to look more closely at yourself, your experiences with others and the social context which you find yourself within.

Over time as a relationship develops, so does the conversation and patterns of being in the world are brought to the foreground. It is through this process that a different way of thinking and feeling about yourself and your life develops.

I work with individuals who are struggling with:

The effects of trauma and neglect
Experiences of dissociation, anxiety, or shame
Questions around identity, belonging, and embodiment
Feeling “stuck” in repeating patterns or emotional states
Complex relational histories

Key themes in people's lives that I have experience supporting them to work with:

Abuse
Anxiety
Bereavement and Loss
Bullying
Depression
Divorce
Eating Disorders
Employment Difficulties
Gender - cis and trans
Identity Problems
Diagnosed Mental Health Issues
Difficulties with Parents and Parenting
Phobias
Post-Traumatic Stress
Relationships
Sex and Sexuality
Stress
Suicide
Trauma
Adjustment to University life

My practice is queer-affirming and trans-inclusive. I welcome people from diverse backgrounds, including those who have experienced marginalisation due to their gender, sexuality, class, race, neurodivergence, or relational history.

Approaches: