About Me

I hold an advanced diploma in psychotherapeutic counselling.

I have been awarded accreditation status through the National Counselling Society (NCS).  I am also a member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP).

I have worked with people of all ages, cultures, and backgrounds, both male and female.  This has given me an excellent grounding in a wide variety of mental health and well-being issues.

I offer both short term work (6 weeks) as well as longer term work.

I have a great passion for helping people recover from trauma – this is my area of expertise. I have had specialised training in trauma counselling as well as pre-trial therapy training. I have a special interest in helping those who have experienced childhood trauma, sexual abuse or rape.  Working with the link between the brain and the body, I aim to help create new experiences that can change implicit emotional memories to bring about long-lasting transformation.   I offer a safe space and my aim is to empower my clients to understand and work through the effects of their trauma.  We can never change our past, but we can shape our future.

I am trained as an integrative counsellor, which means I can offer personalised counselling to my clients – dependant on their individual need. I am also creative, and this gives me the opportunity to use these skills with clients if they would like to.  When words feel like a thousand miles away, using creativity to unpack trauma can be very effective.

I believe that every person is unique and my approach to counselling based on this.  I help my clients work through their needs and explore them together.

Trust is imperative to me and I will listen with no judgement, but with sincerity and empathy, and will offer you a space to just be yourself.   I believe in accepting my clients for who they are, making no assumptions and listening to them with openness and sensitivity.  I believe that you know yourself best, you know what you desire and need, and you know how you would like live life.  Sometimes this can be so painful but, with my help, we can understand and explore your viewpoints and perspective together to find a way to move forward – the way you would like to.

Career path

Before my counselling career, I trained as a personal trainer and fitness coach.  I enjoyed encouraging and motivating people to achieve fitness goals.  I also trained in the pharmaceutical industry and worked as a Regional Account Manager and this enabled me to travel the world, experience different cultures and climb the corporate ladder.

Once I had my own children, I found my priorities changing and the pull of a corporate career was not my focus.  I then spend the next 10 years exploring counselling and psychotherapy – where I retrained and found my calling.

I started my counselling practice at a charitable counselling agency within a secondary school, working with the 11 – 16 age group.  Working with young people struggling with trauma, high ACE’s, anxiety, identity issues and self-esteem.

I then started working for a charitable counselling agency helping those who had experienced rape and sexual abuse, adults as well as young adults.  I specialised in working through the aftermaths of sexual trauma and helping people to cope and recover. It was in this role where I developed my commitment to working with trauma by doing extensive training on trauma, the impacts of ACE’s and how this impacts a person.

I currently split my working week between:

  • Working as a Therapeutic Lead in a large Secondary school where I oversee the therapeutic and wellbeing provision
  • Working privately with adult clients to help them recover from the impacts of their trauma
  • Working with clients/schools – helping others understand what it means to be trauma-informed, be it in their own lives or understanding what this looks like in a school setting.

For me, being a counsellor is a vocation.   It is my calling and I am passionate about what I do.

Qualifications

  • Advanced Diploma in Psycho-therapeutic counselling

Memberships

  • National Counselling Society (NSC)
  • British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP)