About me
I have a specialist interest in working with autism, Asperger's and ADHD including problems with harsh self-criticism, comparisons with others which make you feel less than ok, dealing with overwhelm, destructive relationship patterns, anxiety and depression. I am autistic and ADHD -while my experience of life may be different to yours, you may feel you'd like to see someone who has direct experience of living differently.
Talking therapy with me me can help if you're wanting to explore who you are beneath masks you may have adopted, to seek acceptance of your unique ways of being and to care for a highly sensitive nervous system.
I work with individuals and couples - whatever brings you to read this, the job will be to make sense of your difficulties, explore new ways to look at situations and loosen the grip of old beliefs.
Training, qualifications & experience
Transactional Analysis I have been studying and working with Transactional Analysis since 2017. I hold a Diploma in Transactional Analysis Counselling awarded by Elan Training and Development in Manchester.
Training and experience I have been working with people for thirty years. As well as a four year training in counselling and psychotherapy I maintain an active interest in deepening my understanding of the field through regular attendance at training events and conferences. In the last twelve months I've attended training on working with shame, on exploring attachment within couples, on autism and the way autistic activism challenges the idea of disability, and on some of the difficulties attending boarding school may bring.
Having one's own regular personal therapy is important for all practitioners in this field: I benefit from ongoing long-term personal psychotherapy. I have a BA (Hons) first class in Visual Arts Ceramics and a BSc (Hons) in Chemistry with Philosophy.
Autism and Asperger Syndrome There's increasing awareness of the different ways people experience the world - this can mean a diversity of ways of thinking, feeling, relating, and behaving. The neurodiversity approach welcomes these contrasts as natural variations in human brains.
As part of this variation in wiring autism and ADHD bring gifts but there can often be underlying questions of what it's like to live as an often hidden minority. There can be tension in being part of an extroverted culture where the majority sets the norms and has power to pathologise difference. Sometimes the natural differences of neurodivergent folk to the majority can result in efforts to be less like oneself, feeling 'abnormal', problematic use of alcohol and drugs, depression, fatigue and overwhelm.
I can sit with you and look at ways in which you can explore more peacefulness in yourself - this may involve acceptance of your uniqueness, understanding your individual stressors, noting redundant patterns of behaviour or considering reasonable adjustments in your environment.
Background Before training as a psychotherapist I worked for many years in the legal, housing and mental health sectors including in a therapeutic community, a progressive housing scheme for former street homeless people, in a local authority, and within a national charity's legal team. I live and work in Calderdale, West Yorkshire.
Registration I am a registered member of the BACP (British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy) and International Transactional Analysis Association.
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
Photos & videos
Fees
£60.00 - £90.00
Concessions offered for
Additional information
My fee is £60 per one hour session for individuals and £90 per hour for couples. There may be concessionary slots available - please enquire.
When I work
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