This professional is available for new clients.
This professional is available for new clients.
About me
I’m an integrative therapist with a particular interest in the mind-brain-body connection. I have further training in Brainspotting and NeurOptimal® Neurofeedback, both excellent ways of balancing traditional person-centred talk therapy with more brain/body input to achieve deeper and more lasting change.
A focus on the mind-brain-body is especially important in working with any mental health presentation that is reflected in the body, such as trauma, anxiety, overwhelming feelings / no feelings, feeling stuck, stress and dissociation. One could also add a whole host of ‘medically unexplained’ physical symptoms; in particular I can help you to see patterns and create a plan of action if you or a person you care for has Functional Neurological Disorder (FND).
I very much enjoy working with clients and you will find in me a warm and accepting presence. I hold the space for you to explore your issues and find your own path, and I also bring to the table information and ideas that you can draw from if you wish. I work hard to spot patterns and help you to join up the dots, but it is your journey and I don’t push my ideas if they don’t resonate with you. Above all, I work in a collaborative, transparent and creative way, using a variety of theories and approaches to adapt the therapy to your unique needs.
I work from a strengths-based premise, seeing symptoms and struggles as adaptations to what has happened to you. Life can be hard and it does leave scars – it is no reflection on your core worth.
I like to incorporate work around personality and values, as these can be very empowering ways of getting in touch with our authentic self and getting the best out of life. I offer Self-Discovery Counselling as a standalone package for anyone wishing to get to know themselves better in this particular way.
Training, qualifications & experience
Postgraduate Diploma in Counselling & Psychotherapy (Level 7)
Brainspotting (Phase 1)
I undertake regular CPD and read widely around the psychotherapy field. I consult widely with people with experience of Functional Neurological Disorder (FND).
My training placement was at Platform One in Huddersfield, providing counselling services for a wide range of clients referred to the service by GPs and social prescribers.
My previous background was in the biological sciences and health information – the common thread is a fascination with life processes and patterns and helping people to find their power.
Member organisations
BACP is one of the UK’s leading professional bodies for counselling and psychotherapy with around 60,000 members. The Association has several different categories of membership, including Student Member, Individual Member, Registered Member MBACP, Registered Accredited Member MBACP (Accred) and Senior Registered Accredited Member MBACP (Snr Acccred). Registered and accredited members are listed on the BACP Register, which shows that they have demonstrated BACP’s recommended standards for training, proficiency and ethical practice. The BACP Register was the first register of psychological therapists to be accredited by the Professional Standards Authority (PSA). Accredited and senior accredited membership are voluntary categories for members who choose to undertake a rigorous application and assessment process to demonstrate additional standards around practice, training and supervision. Individual members will have completed an appropriate counselling or psychotherapy course and started to practise, but they won’t appear on the BACP Register until they've demonstrated that they meet the standards for registration. Student members are still in the process of completing their training. All members are bound by the BACP Ethical Framework and a Professional Conduct Procedure.
Accredited register membership
The Accredited Register Scheme was set up in 2013 by the Department of Health (DoH) as a way to recognise organisations that hold voluntary registers which meet certain standards. These standards are set by the Professional Standards Authority (PSA).
This therapist has indicated that they belong to an Accredited Register.
Areas of counselling I deal with
Therapies offered
Fees
£40.00 - £50.00
Additional information
Most sessions are charged at £50 per hour (60 min).
However, I offer a discount for young people aged 16 to 25 - these are charged at £40 per hour.
Please see my website for some special offers around packages.
Further information
A bit about Brainspotting …
Mental wellbeing is about more than thoughts and words – indeed these can sometimes get in the way, so I’m always on the lookout for approaches that have a more holistic and embodied feel.
Brainspotting uses a few simple techniques to link eye positions to 'brainspots': the places in your brain-body that are particular hotspots for feelings of safety and also stuckness, emotional pain and trauma. If the ‘wisdom of the body’ is anywhere, it is probably in this ‘felt sense’, a concept that dates right back to the early days of person-centred therapy, with Eugene Gendlin and his Focusing-Oriented Psychotherapy, a similar approach I also like to use. Focusing and Brainspotting bring powerful relational healing into this sometimes mysterious inner landscape. I can incorporate Brainspotting into regular counselling sessions or you may want to make Brainspotting the main approach.
A bit about NeurOptimal® Neurofeedback …
This is a very clever device that works with the brain’s natural ability to self-organise and self-optimise. It listens to the electrical activity of the brain 256 times per second and invites the brain to notice any out of line behaviours by creating tiny interrupts in the music that you listen to during the session. It is then up to the brain what it does with this information, but over time the brain and central nervous system become more flexible and resilient, which is the essence of wellbeing. As your NeurOptimal® trainer, I help you to track shifts in symptoms across a wide range of mental and physical measures. During the 33 minutes session itself, you can lie back and rest or do any kind of visual activity.
Although the experience is quite unlike regular counselling, I like to think of NeurOptimal® as working to the same philosophical principles as humanistic therapies like person-centred therapy. Both trust the client as the expert in their own process.
