Biography
My motivation for becoming a therapist originated in my personal experience of being in therapy. Over 30 years ago I was dealing with my own inner demons, as an angry teenager who didn’t know how to deal with my feelings, I had a brief episode of destructive behaviours, such as substance misuse and I left school without any qualifications. However, I found therapy gave me the ability to own my feelings as well as the knowledge that my feelings were normal and not something to be ashamed of and hide. I was emotionally nourished by my relationship with my therapist and that inspired me in later life to train as a therapist.
Qualifications
I returned to education as a mature student and graduated with a BSc in Psychology from the London Metropolitan University. I continued with my development as a therapist and completed an MSc in Counselling and Psychotherapy with Roehampton University.
Areas of interest and development
Substance Use/Addictions
Since my gate way into therapy was through my own use of substances I have worked in recovery programs as a volunteer, supported indivi]duals with substance use issues. In addition, in my role in Local Authorities, I have designed and developed services that support homeless individual with issues such as offending, substance use and mental health. These services used a trauma informed approach to support the individual and build a healthy relationship with the world and others.
Domestic Abuse/Trauma
I have also had extensive experience in supporting survivors of domestic abuse, both male and female and working for Local Authorities I have also designed and developed both community and accommodation based services to support those individuals. Working with these individual has helped me to understand the intergenerational and familial roots to difficulties in intimate relationships and problematic attachment dynamics present in all relationships.
Intimacy and attachment
I am particularly interested in attachment styes in individuals who approach for support with relationships or lack of satisfaction or absence of intimate relationships in life. A lot of work in this area focuses on identifying relationship styles and attachment dynamics that strategies for developing more secure attachment styles that support healthier ways of being with others.
Mental Health
After graduating as a psychologist I worked for a large NHS mental health trust working as a mental health support worker before continuing and completing my training as a psychotherapist. I believe that mental health has its roots in the psychology development of the individual and take a non-medical approach to support those patients make sense of their experiences.
Neural logical diversity
I was diagnosed with Dyspraxia in my mid-forties. dyspraxia is neural logical divers difference that affects movement and co-ordination. It can make tasks such as balance, writing, driving or learning difficult. It does not affect your intelligence, but it can be related to other conditions such as ADHD, dyslexia or autism. This understanding of my self as being neural logically divers has helped me to normalize and accept parts of myself that previously struggled with and helped to lift the associated shame. I have found this understanding helpful to support others with similar neurological diverse differences.
Membership
I am a member (No 719510) of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy and registered on their accredited voluntary register 052250. I am also a member (218640) of the the British Psychological Society and UPCA, which is the institutional member of the United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy.
Ethics
Ethically I am bound by the code of ethics and conducts published by the ethics commitee of the British Psychological Society.
"As a member of BACP I am bound by its Ethical Framework for Good Practice in Counselling and Psychotherapy, the Ethical Guidelines for Researching Counselling and Psychotherapy and subject to the Professional Conduct Procedure for the time being in force".
