My name is John Hodgson. I have lived in Hastings, East Sussex for 25 years and I’m a psychotherapeutic counsellor with a background in Transactional Analysis.
It’s taken me a long time to get here. There have been a lot of diversions along the way. I’ve been a cycle courier, a van driver, a recording engineer and worked for a national newspaper. I’ve played in bands, worked on market stalls and been a stay at home dad.
In my working life there has been very little that has been more satisfying than being a counsellor. The relationship between a counsellor and a client is unlike any other I’ve experienced and it feels like a huge privilege to be trusted with the life stories that people share. I do not take this trust lightly.
Being human, I’ve had to navigate some of the usual choppy waters of life – unhappy schooldays, grief and loss, relationship concerns, redundancy, anxiety, self doubt and imposter syndrome, not knowing what to do with my life and worrying about the future, children growing up and parents growing old – amongst other things. I feel that I’ve learned a lot along the way, I’m still learning every day and I still believe that change is possible.
For my own mental health, I like walking my dog in the woods, messing around with old cameras, listening to music, playing 5-a-side football and dissecting the game afterwards in the pub.
I am insured, supervised and DBS checked. I am a member of The National Counselling and Psychotherapy Society (NCPS) and I abide by their codes of ethics and professional practice.