About me
I love the powerful transformation that therapy allows, both as a client and as a therapist. Having an opportunity to be open and honest, confidentially and from within a safe relationship, is key in learning to understand, love and ultimately accept who we are. Once we're in a place of acceptance, we can plan how to work towards becoming who we want to be.
Personally, being in therapy has been healing in my own life, and I'm privileged providing that experience for others. I began my mental health training 20 years after my first talking therapy experience, and already well into a completely different career.
l have lived internationally for most of my life. Learning to adapt to different cultural standards from a young age helped me realise that we're all shaped not only by what happens to us, but also by the social frames that exist around us such as culture, race, religion, class, sexuality and gender identity.
I belong to two different therapeutic Membership Bodies for accountability and to help me stay updated, as well as for the safety of my clients. I'm a Registered Member of the BACP and an Accredited Member of the NCS where I'm also on their Specialist CYPT (Children and Young People's Therapist) register. I follow both of these organisations' ethical frameworks. I meet monthly with my experienced, accredited supervisors who also adhere to the same guidelines, to ensure safe and ethical practice. I am fully insured against public liability, and hold an updated enhanced DBS check. I'm an experienced School Counsellor and I'm affiliated with the Therapists Against Conversion Therapy and Transphobia (TACTT) and the Radical Therapist Network
Training and Post-Graduate CPD's
-
CPCAB L2 Certificate in Counselling Skills
-
CPCAB L3 Certificate in Counselling Studies
-
CPCAB L4 Diploma in Therapeutic Counselling
A sample of my most recent Continuous Professional Developments (CPD's)
-
How To Do Counselling Online: A Coronavirus Primer (BACP & The Open University)
-
Uncertainty: An Existential Experience (Ernesto Spinelli)
-
A Matter of Death and Life (Irvin Yalom)
-
Young People and Gender Identity (Madison-Amy Webb)
-
Supporting and Counselling Bereaved People During COVID-19 (John Williams)
-
Intro to Gender Identity Workshop (Radical Therapist Network)
-
Certificate in Race, Culture & Anti-Discriminatory Practice: Core Competence Training for Counsellors and Psychotherapists (Mamood Ahmad and Sam Jamal)
-
Exploring the Interface between Counselling and Mental Health Services (Rachel Freeth)
-
Racial Trauma: The Path To Healing (Community Trauma Conference)
-
The Ethical Framework (Mike Worrall)
-
Suicidal Ideation (Jan Hawkins)
-
Anti-Racism in Action: Tackling Islamophobia in Therapy (The Radical Therapist Network and the Inclusive Mosque Initiative)
-
Sex and the Underage Teen (Youthline)
My philosophy
During my counselling career I have noticed that we are seldom prepared to deal with life’s ordinary rites of passage, those which happen to most of us as we grow and develop:
-
Leaving childhood and entering adulthood
-
Finishing education and starting work
-
Learning to live independently
-
Moving in with or away from a romantic partner
-
Becoming a new parent and/or an empty nester
-
Retiring from work
-
Menopause and Andropause
These natural life transitions can leave us feeling lost because they challenge our senses of identity, community and purpose. I assist clients with these ordinary yet complex existential situations which can feel so alienating and uncomfortable, and which are also rich opportunities for discovery and reinvention.
