About me
Hi, thanks for looking at my profile - I remember only too well how difficult it was to choose some stranger to help me all those many moons ago - I guess my first job here to give you a sense of who I am so that you can at least decide quickly enough whether you want to read on, or move on :-)
Professionally, I first started my counselling training in 1994. I was also training as a mental health nurse, but that didn't suit me, and I moved over to working with young offenders in Edinburgh. I completed an HNC counselling qualification in 1997 and did a year or two of voluntary counselling. However, I have always worked full-time with people, mostly in the voluntary sector, supporting them through difficulties, though not always as a counsellor. For many years, I worked as a mediator, both in the community and as a Registered Family Mediator, which I still do. In 2013, I decided to return to counselling and qualified as a person-centered counsellor and worked directly with Adult Carer's as a counsellor for 5 years.
As I've worked directly with people who have been struggling with themselves or relationships, in one capacity or another for nearly 25 years, I understand how we can all, at times, find life incredibly difficult. I've always believed that with support and help, people can find their own way back. I believe that having someone, even if it is one person, with whom you can share just how much of a struggle life is for you, that this can make all the difference. To the best of my ability, I'll be that person - I'll work alongside you and support you to find your way back to yourself, and who you want to be.
Training, qualifications & experience
My experience covers over 25 years of working with people who are either socially excluded, such as the young men struggling to make different choices within the criminal justice system, carer's who find themselves lost in the daily needs of another, with little physical or emotional space to find themselves again - and families struggling with separation and divorce, dealing with the loss and confusion. My roles have been support worker, mediator or counsellor, but whatever my role, I've helped, supported, listened to how it has been for these individuals and worked alongside them to find a way forward.
I work as a Registered Family Mediator for Relationships Scotland, with whom I trained in 2008.
I worked as a Counsellor for the Devon Carer's Counselling Service for nearly five years.
I have worked as a private counsellor initially from 1997 - 1999 and again on and off from 2015 to the current day.
I have experience of working in the Mental Health field and have counselled people through loss, debt, drug use and mental health difficulties.
I believe that everyone can, with support, find their way through whatever difficulty they are facing and move forward through understanding themselves to making the best decisions they can for their future.
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
£30.00 - £50.00
Concessions offered for
Additional information
I work on a sliding scale between £30 - £50 per 50 min session.
I can offer free introductory sessions (30 mins) where we can both decide if we want to work together. I will listen to your circumstances before agreeing with you an acceptable price, should we agree to begin counselling.
Students and Carer's would be particularly welcome.
