About me
Qualifications and experience.
I am a fully qualified counsellor and psychotherapist based near Eastleigh, Hampshire. I work face to face, via zoom or skype and by telephone.
I am an accredited BACP (British Association of Counsellors and Psychotherapists) member and I am bound by their code of ethics. I am also a member of HACP - (Hampshire Association of Counsellors and Psychotherapists). I have all the required insurances to be working privately as a therapist and have regular supervision for my work as well as attend regular conferences to keep my work current and up to date.
I have trained for 5 years and this has included extensive personal therapy which was required by the University of Roehampton.
As well as working privately, I have previously worked part-time for a local low-cost counselling services in Hampshire: Alton counselling service which is open to anyone requiring counselling; and also at a similar service in Basingstoke: Basingstoke Counselling service. Other services that I have worked at are: Yellow Door which specialise in sexual abuse and trauma and Age Concern Hampshire providing counselling for their clients who were diagnosed with dementia and also carers.
As well as talking therapy, I am in the last stages of completing an Advanced Diploma as an accredited Yoga Therapist with the IAYT. This has enabled me to bring my two passions together - psychotherapy and yoga. I began this training when I realised that sometimes, clients need more than just to talk and getting into their own bodies by doing simple movement, learning about breath practices and learning how to relax can also have significant benefits for well being as well. My experience is that the two therapies compliment each other and facilitating one to one tailored yoga practice works well along side talking therapy.
I am now about to embark on training as a supervisor at CSTD, London and supervising a group of newly qualified and training therapists at Alton Counselling Service.
Before training as a therapist, I spent many years working in the legal field both as a barrister and as a lecturer in criminal law. I therefore have experience of interacting with students, victims and defendants in times of distress, and legal professionals working under pressure with deadlines to meet. As well as having a general practice, I am keen to offer a therapeutic service for lawyers who feel that the stress of work is impacting on other aspects of their lives, and need someone to talk to who can understand the pressures of working within the legal profession.
Qualifications:
MA - Integrative Counselling and Psychotherapy, University of Roehampton
Level 3 - certificate in counselling,
Peter Symonds Adult Education, Winchester
Level 2 - introduction to counselling skills,
Peter Symonds Adult Education, Winchester
Other involvements:
Trustee of ACS (Alton Counselling Service)
Member of Psychodynamic reading group
CPD (continual professional development) - continuing training:
These are shorter (day or weekend) courses on specialist areas of therapy which enable me to stay up to date and adhere to the BACP guidelines on professional development:
The following list gives the most recent workshops that I have attended:
Yoga therapy for Anxiety Attacks - Yoga Therapy Institute 2024
Post Traumatic Growth - International Complex Trauma Conference 2023
Breaks in Therapy - Brighton Therapy Partnership 2023
Autistic workshop - Joan Bristow, 2022
Working Therapeutically with the Gender Diverse Community - Basingstoke Counselling Service, 2022
Love in Psychotherapy - Divine Charura, Victoria Settle & Robin Shohet, Brighton Therapy Partnership, 2022
Prescribed Psychiatric Drugs and Psychotherapy: A case consultation workshop. Anne Guy, 2021
Trauma Sensitive Yoga workshop - Trauma Sensitive Yoga Nederland, 2021
Yoga Psychology: Philosophy & Practice for anxiety and depression relief, The Yoga Therapy Institute.
A Matter of Death and Life - Irvin Yalom, 2021
Transforming Attachments - Linda Candy, Siobhan McGee, Dr Kathrin Stauffer, 2021
Somatisation - The Physical Expression of our Unspoken Story. Julianne Appel-Opper, 2021
An experience of Embodied-Relational Therapy - Allison Priestman & Stephen Tame, 2021
Transforming the ‘Living Legacy’ of Trauma - Janina Fisher, 2021
Suicide - Myth, meaning and management. In house training ACS, 2021
Creativity as a healing tool: Connecting mind, body & imagination. PESI UK, 2021
Body Talk: Working with the Unspoken. When talking is not enough - Lorna Evans 2021
Prescribed Psychiatric Drugs in Practice - Dr Anne Guy 2020
Suicide - Myth, meaning & management - In house ACS training 2020
Introduction to Walking Therapy - Karen Pollock 2020
The Web of Shame in the Therapeutic Space - Christiane Sanderson 2020
Yoga therapy skills for psychologists and therapists - Heather Mason & Dr Samantha Bottrill 2020
Introduction to Counselling Young People - Mandy Girdler and Kitty Willis 2020
The interbrain in the therapy room - Digby Tantum 2019
Dealing with disaster - an exploration of PTSD - In house Alton counselling training 2019
Integrating artwork into you counselling practice - BACP professional development day 2019
Assessment and management of suicidal risk - Angie Knorpel 2018
Trauma and the Body - Graham Music 2018
In house Dementia awareness training - Age Concern, Hampshire, 2016
In house sexual abuse counselling training - Yellow Door, Southampton, 2016
