About me
I am a qualified psychotherapist with over 20 years’ experience working with a wide range of emotional and mental health difficulties. I work in a relational and integrative way, though my approach is grounded most strongly in Person-Centred values.
I trust you to be the authority on your own experience and journey. My role is to work alongside you, offering a safe, thoughtful and non-judgemental space in which deeper self awareness and understanding can emerge. Together, we can explore patterns, habits, beliefs and experiences that may be affecting your well being or sense of self.
I also have a longstanding personal interest in spirituality and over 20 years experience of Zen meditation, which can gently inform the therapeutic process where appropriate.
Our work together will focus on helping you make sense of the difficulties you choose to bring to sessions. These may relate to immediate concerns around self-esteem, relationships, work or social situations, or to past experiences and events that feel important to revisit and understand more fully. Often, these experiences overlap and connect in meaningful ways.
The therapeutic relationship itself can offer an opportunity to reflect on interpersonal dynamics, their meanings, and the potential for change and growth.
I offer face-to-face sessions from a private therapy space adjoining my home in Todmorden, as well as online sessions via Zoom.
Training, qualifications & experience
I worked as a Residential Social Worker (working with children) during the 1980's after which I completed my degree in Women Studies and Mental Health (1990).
Alongside my studies I trained and worked as a volunteer counselor at Care-line, at Women's Refuge and also worked with homeless young people, I then went on to complete my Post Graduate Diploma in Counselling and Psychotherapy in 2006.
I worked as a volunteer counselor at Sure start for 5 years and have been in private practice since 2006. I work from a quiet and tranquil room in my garden at home.
I have a long term interest and practice in zen meditation and mindfulness. Additional training includes Polyvagal nervous system awareness and Somatic Experiencing.
As a member of the BACP I work within their ethical framework and aim to provide a highly ethical practice. With this in mind I also have regular supervision and continue to participate in training to remain attentive to my practice.
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.
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
£70.00 per session
Additional information
When I work
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Further information
Therapy can be short or long term, this can be discussed at the outset and revisited.
It is generally the case that at 6 weeks it is possible to assess how to proceed, whether enough work has already been done, or to plan for work in the future. For that reason I like to have a review at 6 weeks. If we decide to continue after this point then we can work in a open ended way with regular reviews.
You can end the sessions whenever you feel ready, however if possible I would l prefer to set the closing session date together.
