About

Background

I was born in 1972 and brought up in Manchester,  lived in Henley-on-Thames for six years in my twenties and moved to Exeter in 2000. I have three adult children; 2 of whom are members of the LGBT+ community.


Originally unfulfilled in the financial administration industry I did not have a significant change of career until I ended up working with special needs children with varying emotional and behavioural challenges and diagnoses such as Autism, ADHD and Tourette's Syndrome. I particularly enjoyed the work as the development of a relationship built on trust and empathy was an important part of the role. Throughout my life I have found that I connect readily and easily with other people and this has consistently proved to be the case. I value authentic dialogue and people generally find me very easy to talk to. I also embrace humour and find it a useful tool in this work. I'm no comedian and you won't fall off your chair laughing, but raising a genuine smile is an important part of building rapport and lightens the burden of being human. Lightness to balance the darkness that existence inevitably brings.

Counselling training

In 2008 I embarked on counselling training. I threw myself 
wholeheartedly into it and the more I learned, the more confident I was that this was the right career for me. The training at The Iron Mill in Exeter, a BACP accredited course, involved, as well as the learning modules, undertaking 40 hours of personal therapy, the keeping of personal process journals and attaining 150 hours of counselling work on a voluntary basis.


The Advanced Diploma I studied for is in integrative counselling where I learned a wide variety of approaches and was encouraged to form a counselling philosophy coherent with who I am as a person. As qualified counsellors it is expected that we "walk our talk". This is not about learning the latest fashionable approach to therapy, it is about being grounded and being able to be who I truly am in the therapy room.

Couples therapy

I also hold a Certificate in Relationship Counselling which was awarded in 2015. In Feb 2022 I completed my Level 1 Certificate in The Gottman Method Couples Therapy.

Coaching

I have Accreditation with EMCC at Practitioner level in coaching. I am delighted to be further advancing my coaching skills with a Level 7 qualification which will lead to my being an EMCC Accredited Senior Practitioner in October 2023. 

Further experience

I have experience of working with a wide range of clients - in my own private practice, for a not-for-profit agency, for private health insurance providers, within a school and in a specialist addictions unit - from primary school aged children to retirees. 

As well as my private business, I was an associate counsellor of Steven James Counselling from 2012-2016, and worked on behalf of GamCare with clients with gambling issues. (More information about this work can be found here.) I was on the steering committee for a low cost, charity-run counselling service for 2 years.

I adhere to the BACP's Ethical Framework - a guideline for practitioners which closely correlates with my personal code of ethics. More information can be found here.

BACP Senior Accreditation

I achieved BACP Accredited status in September 2014. This is over and above ordinary BACP membership. It means that the BACP recognise the extensive experience I have as a practitioner, have examined my work and deem me to be working ethically and with a high degree of self-awareness. 


I was awarded Senior Accredited status by the BACP in March 2019. This means that my practice "has been deemed to meet (their) higher standard as a competent, ethical and independent practitioner"

Ongoing professional and personal enquiry

attend clinical supervision every fortnight with a very experienced therapist who works with individuals and couples. I engage in personal therapy from time to time as I believe it is imperative that as therapists we are able to examine our own stuff.


Further training

I undertake regular workshops, not only for continued learning but to carry on developing my philosophy.

Workshops/training attended include:

Gabor Mate Compassionate Enquiry Masterclass (July 2022)
Gottman Level Level One Certificate (Feb 2022)
Gottman Method Couples Therapy with William Bumberg (Sep 2021)
Rainbow Map workshop with Andrew Thomas (Feb 2020)
Working with Suicide and Self Harm, PODS (March 2019)
Working with client's anger, NICABM (June 2018)
Anger, Rage & Relationship, Sue Parker-Hall (March 2018)
Eye Movement Integration (March 2018)
Positive Psychology Life Coaching 101, Iron Mill (Feb 2018)
Working with Core Beliefs of "Not Good Enough", NICABM (2017)
Treating Trauma Master Series, NICABM (2017)
Working with Shame, Survivors2Thrivers (2017)
Trauma, Dissociation & Recovery, PODS (May 2016) 
OCD - a CBT Approach, BACP CPD (May 2016)
Working with Survivors of Trauma, Survivors2Thrivers (March 2016)
Certificate in Couples Counselling (July 2015)
Working with Relational Trauma, PODS (May 2015)
Mick Cooper on Pluralistic Counselling (June 2014)
Working with boarding school survivors, Jane Barclay (Nov 2013)
GamCare training - relapse prevention (2013)
Working with Self destructiveness (June 2012)
Relational Depth in Counselling run by Mick Cooper (2013)
GamCare - working with clients with gambling issues (June 2012)
SMART Recovery facilitator training (2012)
Introduction to Dissociative Id. Disorder, First Person Plural (2012)
Marshall Rosenberg's Non-Violent Communication (2011)






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