About Me
Having originally set out to be a secondary school music teacher, I found myself drawn into the mental health field through teaching music to young people with additional needs. I went on to work in the community with adults with severe and enduring mental health problems, first in the NHS and then for a major mental health charity. My roles ranged from running groups, to providing one to one social and emotional support to individuals, workingas part of a crisis team, running a mental health service for women and managing day care for adults with long-term severe mental health problems in Bristol
It was while working in community mental health, that I realised I wanted to work more closely with individuals and began my Gestalt Psychotherapy. Since then, I have gone on to work in the Third Sector, where I managed a counselling service for carers; in the NHS; and in a large inner-city secondary school as School Counsellor. I am now based in private practice and within that provide EAP and group work for a number of organisations as well as working with a local charity offering a counselling service to local young people.
I am passionate about what I do and it remains the greatest privilege to be part of so many people’s journeys.
Qualifications
- Post Graduate Diploma in Gestalt Therapy
- Post Graduate Certificate in Group Work
- Certificate in working with Children and Adolescents using a Gestalt Approach
CPD (Continual Professional Development) including
- Resilience Building
- Motivational Interviewing
- Certificate in Therapeutic Mentoring with young people (Trauma Recovery Centre, Bath)
- Mental Health First Aid for young people
- Louise Hayes: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
- Action Trauma: Intergenerational Trauma and Childhood Experience
- Advanced Safeguarding Training
Professional Membership
I am a member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) and on its Accredited Register. I follow the BACP Ethical Framework for the Counselling Professions and am committed to continuing my own professional and personal development through regular training and professional supervision.
What I can offer
- One to one counselling
- Long-term therapy
- Short-term focussed work
- Counselling for young people
- Group therapy and group work – including Reflective Practice Groups, focussed groups (bereavement support, Women’s Group)
- Outdoor walking therapy
“Counselling has been so good, so valuable and I now feel so much more confident in myself and able to trust my own judgement to make good choices for myself”