I'm Clive Rossington, a BACP-registered counsellor based in Brighton, working with adults facing grief, anxiety, identity questions and major life transitions.
My path into counselling grew out of many years spent supporting people through change, loss and self-discovery. Earlier in my life, I worked as a workshop facilitator at the Findhorn Foundation in Scotland, an intentional community rooted in spirituality, ecology and collaborative living. There, I helped individuals and groups explore their feelings, relationships and sense of identity. It was in that environment — living close to the land, and sitting alongside people as they worked out who they were — that I learned the value of slowing down, listening closely, and meeting people exactly where they are. These qualities are still central to how I work today.
I later trained in Gestalt therapy, a relational and creative approach that pays close attention to what's happening in the present moment. It fits naturally with my belief that healing happens when we're supported to express ourselves openly and honestly. Since then, I've continued training in grief and bereavement, gender and identity (GSRD/TNBI), and working with life transitions.
I've supported people through a wide range of situations: the death of someone close, the ending of a relationship, changes in identity or self-esteem, anxiety, depression, work-related stress, and times when life simply feels overwhelming. My aim is always to offer a calm, respectful and compassionate space where you can talk freely and begin to make sense of what you're experiencing.
Outside the counselling room, I still garden — friends call me "the caring gardener," which I've happily adopted — and I'm drawn to making things by hand: I knit socks and sew my own shirts. There's a thread running through all of it, Findhorn included: a belief that people, like gardens, grow in their own time, rather than to a fixed plan. I try to bring that same patience into the therapy room.
I offer sessions online, in my private practice in Brighton, or outdoors on a walk through the countryside, whichever setting feels right for you. Wherever we meet, I'll work with you in a way that's attuned, collaborative and responsive to what you need.
If any of this resonates, I offer a free 30-minute introductory session so we can meet and see whether working together feels right.
Qualifications and Experience
- Registered member of BACP
- Postgraduate Certificate in Gestalt Therapy – London Metropolitan University
- Advanced Diploma in Professional Development – London Metropolitan University
- Diploma in Humanistic Counselling – University of Chichester
- Essentials of Psychoanalysis – The Psychosynthesis Trust
- Awareness in Bereavement Care – CRUSE
- Member of GI (Gendered Intelligence) Network of Therapists and Counsellors, working alongside trans, gender-diverse and questioning people
- Member, Klinefelter's Syndrome Association
- Six years as counsellor at the Macmillan Horizon Centre, Brighton, supporting people affected by cancer
