About Pip

I've been working with children for over 16 years. I've sat with anxious children who couldn't walk through the school gates, supported teenagers who didn't have the words for what they were feeling, and helped parents who were at the end of their rope wondering if they were getting it wrong. I understand family life from the inside too. The messy bits, the hard bits, the moments where nothing you try seems to work. That experience shapes everything I do.

I founded applepipp in 2020, during the pandemic, when it became clear that children and young people needed more support than the system could offer. waiting lists were long, schools were stretched, and parents were worried. I started with emotion coaching, and in 2021 I began studying for a Diploma in Psychotherapeutic Counselling at The Northern Guild, specialising in children and adolescents. I qualified in July 2025.

Before that I spent 10 years as a Specialist Behaviour Support Worker for Northumberland County Council, working across primary and secondary schools. I've supported children with additional needs through Local Authority SEND services, worked as a Safeguarding Lead for a sports organisation, and I'm an approved foster carer. When I say I've seen the challenges families face, I mean it.

I'm based in Alnwick, Northumberland, and I work with families across the surrounding area. As an integrative child therapist I draw on different therapeutic models - play therapy, art therapy, person-centred approaches - to find what works for each child. There's no one-size-fits-all. What matters is that your child feels heard.

applepipp has grown from emotion coaching into psychotherapeutic counselling. I'm more motivated than ever to help children make sense of their world, develop a positive sense of self, and build the coping strategies they need for whatever comes next. If you're wondering whether your child could benefit from seeing a counsellor, let's have a conversation.

I work with individual children and families from my practice in Alnwick, and I also provide counselling services for schools across Northumberland. If you'd like to know more about how I work, you can read about what happens in counselling or have a look at my blog, where I write about topics like anxiety, self-harm, shame and growth mindset.