This professional is available for new clients.
This professional is available for new clients.
About me
My fascination with how art can tell stories began in childhood as I watched travelling theatres perform in our local village hall. I later learned that because it is our bodies that remember, creativity can help us understand, express, and heal the parts of the story that need attention.
Art therapy allows us to tell our story in our own terms.
Attachment informed EMDR adds a potent healing power to my offering.
Given the right conditions, our bodies and minds will move towards wellness. Just as a cut will heal, so too will our hearts, minds and sense of self. We come to therapy because life is hard now, and because feelings get in the way of coping with challenges. And, even when the present is unarguably hard - with relationships, jobs, not to mention political and planet crisis - we come to therapy because we want to cope better with the life we find ourselves in.
True effective therapy turns towards the body - our nervous systems - to be precise. As we grew, our nervous systems formed in response to the relationships we had with the key adults in our lives. We may have grown and things may have changed, but our nervous systems often need help to catch-up, and to learn adaptive ways of responding.
Creative, attachment-informed EMDR supports the discovery of how our nervous systems got to be the way they are.
Gently, with care, patience, and warmth, we embark on a resourced journey of discovery.
We reveal, and heal, the stories that shaped your nervous system
We allow a new and empowered story to complete the chapters, and your body completes unfinished and unresolved traumas.
I am still excited by what therapy can do. I am honoured by my role as a therapist, accompanying people on their journeys to move beyond a life of anxiety, self-hatred, doubt, and pain, to a life of the real stuff - of self-esteem, of pride in who they are, of radical self-compassion, and the ability to ask for what they need in relationships…
... and sometimes, simply the pleasure of the odd grumpy day! Because therapy can’t take away the challenges in life and it shouldn't stop us feeling genuine anger, confusion, and grumpiness when things are hard. Because therapy isn’t about taking away feelings, it's about helping us live better with them.
How do we get started?
If you're interested in therapy with me, we will speak on the phone or via email to arrange a free 30 minute meeting. Our first meeting will be an informal assessment and is a chance for us to think about how, and if therapy, may work. It is a chance for you to ask questions about me and the therapy I offer. We will have the chance to talk about what brings you to therapy, what you are hoping for, or what worries you.
This initial meeting is free of charge and will last about 30 mins.
Cost
Sessions can be 60 minutes, or 90 minutes and are priced at £65, and £95 respectively.
What do you need to know?
I am an HCPC registered Arts Psychotherapist with a distinction at Masters level, and an Advanced Diploma in Arts Psychotherapy Practice. I am trained to Level 3 EMDR with an accredited EMDR Europe Trainer.
I am registered with the Health Care Professionals Council (HCPC) and adhere to their safeguarding and ethics frameworks for good practice.
I am an enhanced member of the British Association of Art Therapists (BAAT) and adhere to their guidelines for ethics and good practice.
I have Professional Indemnity Insurance with Howden Insurance Group.
I undertake Continued Professional Development (CPD) in a variety of areas, and have regular Clinical Supervision with an EMDR consultant.
I have experience working with people who suffer:
Bereavement and Grief - Anorexia Nervosa - Bulimia - Anxiety – Depression – Dissociation - Those affected by cancer - PTSD - Developmental Trauma, Childhood neglect and abuse, Those affected by stroke and cognitive impairment - 'borderline personality' diagnosis (BPD) symptoms - 'Dissociative Identity Disorder' (DID) symptoms – Challenges with parenting
Mental Health Diagnosis
Diagnosis are a cluster of symptoms in a manual.
I do not get hung up on psychological diagnoses but understand that they mean different things to different people. I approach each person's symptoms as a valid response to life experience, not a 'disorder to be fixed'. I believe it is possible to face our symptoms with curiosity, to understand them better, and move toward a life more aligned with our needs. A diagnosis can be helpful as it may point towards helpful medication, or a treatment pathway. I will discuss this with you.
Increased understanding of Autism and ADHD is bringing to light greater self-understanding for many people and, whilst I celebrate the stretching of our neuro-dominant culture, I see the challenge that masking and being misunderstood takes upon a person. I welcome neurodiversity and your personal story. I think I am neurotypical, but I am not sure.
Privilege
I am a white, able bodied, sis-gendered woman. I recognise the privilege those distinctions have given me, alongside enduring toxicity, and 'othering', that hurts and dis-ables people. It is important to address the power imbalance that the therapy relationship can hold, and to face subjects that society wants us to shy away from. I hope that, step by step, we can remove the blocks that prejudice creates, and to ReHumanise the world in which we live.
Please drop me an email if you’d like to find out more.
Training, qualifications & experience
Qualifications
- Levels 1, 2 and 3 EMDR Therapy with the EMDR Institute.
- Masters - with distinction - Arts Psychotherapy Practice - Arts Therapy Northern Program, Sheffield
- Advanced Diploma - Integrative Arts Psychotherapy - The Institute for Arts in Therapy and Education (IATE), London
- Level 1 Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy
- Level 1 Theraplay
- Level 1 Dyadic Art Psychotherapy
- Fundamentals in Psychosynthesis - The Institute of Psychosynthesis - London
- Ba (Hons) Technical Arts and Special Effects. University of the Arts, London.
Additional training
Attachment Informed EMDR; Healing with Breath and Sound; Play therapy; Somatic Internal Family Systems Therapy (IFS);Sensory Integration (BUSS model); Sandtray therapy; Clayfield therapy; Hakomi Therapy; Working in clinical practice with DID; Working in clinical practice with ME and fibromyalgia, Working in clinical practice with bereavement and greif; Clinical Somatics; Adoption through a racialised lense, Racial Equity with Ravideep Kaur, Safeguarding.
Experience
- Therapeutic Director of Growing ME CIC www.growingme.co.uk.
- Art and EMDR psychotherapist in private practice.
- Trauma and Attachment Therapist - Chrysalis Associates, Sheffield.
- Child and Families Psychotherapist - Cavendish Cancer Care, Sheffield.
- Art Psychotherapy - Catharsis, Derbyshire and South Yorkshire.
- Art Psychotherapist Share Psychotherapy, Sheffield.
- Art Psychotherapist -Sheffield Eating Disorder Service.
- Therapeutic arts facilitator - Kids Company, London.
Member organisations
school Registered / Accredited
Being registered/accredited with a professional body means an individual must have achieved a substantial level of training and experience approved by their member organisation.
The HCPC are an independent, UK-wide health regulator. They set standards of professional training, performance and conduct for 16 professions.
They keep a register of health professionals who meet their standards, and they take action if registered health professionals fall below those standards. They were created by a piece of legislation called the Health Professions Order 2001.
Registration means that a health professional meets national standards for their professional training, performance and conduct.
The British Association of Art Therapists
Areas of counselling I deal with
Photos & videos
Fees
£60.00 - £95.00
Free initial in-person, telephone or online session
Additional information
I am currently full and running a wait-list for new clients.
Initial assessment/meeting free; 30 mins.
Standard fee: £65 for 60 mins; £95 for 90 mins
Talk to me about your goals, and time-frames, and how you want therapy to fit in your life. Therapy can achieve the same goals with different approaches.
Many people are looking for long or medium-term therapy, which allows for a slower and in depth relationship to evolve within the work. Whilst others prefer time-limited sessions that encourages focused therapy with clear goals.
For shorter term work 6 - 10, 15 or 20 session blocks can be booked at an agreed price, which can bring costs down per session. These can be intense (twice weekly) or standard (weekly).
When I work
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Currently, I have sessions available on Thursdays.
