About me
I have worked as a UKCP Registered Psychotherapist since 2000 and a BACP Accredited Counsellor since 2006. I also have 15 years experience of doing therapy online. Psychotherapy is my passion and has been my full-time profession since 2006. I work in Camberley, Surrey and also run sessions weekly in Canary Wharf, E14. My previous roles have included working in IT for commercial organisations and four years of lecturing in an HE and FE college.
I offer psychotherapy to individuals and couples and work on a short or long-term basis. I aim to provide a compassionate and empathic, but down-to-earth approach to psychotherapy and counselling, which takes account of personal history and yet which can be focused and goal-oriented too.
I chose to train as a psychotherapist so that I can work at depth and really get to the bottom of problems and difficulties, rather than providing 'a temporary fix'. I often work with people who have tried other approaches and have not quite found the resolution they are seeking. Psychotherapy works from the position of everyone being unique and individual - there is no 'set script', no standard treatment and no two people’s problems are exactly the same. Each person's difficulty and its expression is unique to them and context and personal history are very much part of the story. I am very interested in 'symptoms', but my approach is not 'symptom-focused' - I prefer to work with deeper underlying causes. Being an Integrative Psychotherapist gives me the flexibility to work in different ways. What we do and how we work will be unique to the therapy we do together.
Being integrative means I am not partisan to one particular type of therapy. Early in my training, it became apparent to me that no one approach to therapy had the monopoly on success, nor was any one approach a panacea for all issues. Instead I have incorporated into my practice understanding and techniques from a number of different therapies, which gives me flexibility to work with a broad range of issues. My Humanistic stance means that I see every client as unique and expert in their own story and I use models from a number of different Humanistic therapies. At the same time, I work psychodynamically which enables me to help with relationship issues and repeating patterns in peoples' lives, which have their origin in the past. I also am trained in CBT and see working cognitively and behaviourally as the most effective way to work with certain issues and this is often the approach which can bring about change, once underlying issues have been understood and processed. I find psychotherapy works best when the approach is flexible. In sessions, we might range from practical advice on issues like anxiety and sleep through to making useful connections between past and present experiences through to working with Existential issues, which often present mid-life or in later life and which we all face.
I work with an awareness of pharmacology - and with people who are having difficulties withdrawing from pharmaceutical medications. I am also familiar with psychiatric diagnoses and work with an awareness of other factors in the broader context, which can influence mood and anxiety levels. I also have experience of working with a wide range of medical issues and conditions.
Training, qualifications & experience
Training and approach
I chose to train as an Integrative psychotherapist - as there are lots of approaches to therapy which work and have value. For me, being Integrative means I can be most effective and have the most flexible approach. I have an MSc and Diploma in Integrative Psychotherapy from Metanoia, qualifying in 2000. I also have AEB Certificates in Counselling Skils and Counselling Theory, a Certificate in Couples Counselling, CBT (Cognitive and Behavioural Therapy) training and recently a Diploma in Diversity, Cultural Competence, Race and Anti-Discrimination Practice. I am a believer in life-long education!
I also have a Certificate in Education and a BA Honours Degree and 25 years worth of varied and valuable Continuing Professional Development. I have worked in commercial companies, been a college lecturer, a parent and have had personal and health challenges in my life, which all help me be a sensitive and empathic practitioner.
Originally I chose to train as a psychotherapist and attain UKCP registration, (perhaps less well known than BACP Accreditation), because it allows me to practise at greater depth. UKCP Registration requires demanding standards in training, clinical practice, clinical supervision and personal therapy. I also have BACP Accreditation to work as a counsellor, as psychotherapy and counselling often function interchangeably.
CBT is still the approach most often recommended and I use CBT techniques, focusing on thoughts and behaviours and this is a very effective way of working for many difficulties. But often, to achieve a more fundamental change or for complex problems, other approaches are needed. Everyone is unique - and our story, the personal history that has shaped us, our past and current emotions all need careful attention as part of the work. Neuroscience confirms that our brains function both within our awareness and outside of our awareness - so conscious and unconscious processes determine our mental health. Sometimes people experience 'repeating patterns' in their lives, and it is through examining our unique personal history and and asking 'Where did this come from?' and 'How does that affect me now?' that greater insight can be achieved and deeper and more fundamental change can happen. Negative feelings, very often depression or anxiety most often are what bring people to therapy - but our 'blind spots' often prevent us from making the progress that we want to achiveve in our lives. Therefore working with the full range - cognition and behaviour, but also our emotions, our history and how it has shaped us, and our circumstances in life, as well as our mind-body relationship and current habits in life, healthy or unhealthy - is necessary to help improve emotional well-being.
Experience
I've been a therapist in full-time private practice now for 19 years. But I have had a life before being a therapist, which is important to me! In previous job roles I have been a computer programmer working in a variety of commercial environments. I have also taught in an FE/HE college and worked in retail management. I have previously worked providing talking therapy services through IAPT to NHS patients. I also have a great deal of experience as a private practitioner, working initially with Employee Assistance Programmes seeing clients from both public and private sector organisations and for insurance companies. I also previously worked for the prison service and have experience of working with visually impaired clients and with Agoraphobia, for which I do home visits. I am registered as a Mental Health Wellbeing Specialist with BUPA and a number of other private health insurers such as AXA and Aviva.
I am also experienced as a Couples and Relationship therapist, but I'm equally comfortable to work with individuals with relationship difficulties.
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 UK Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP) is a leading professional body for the education, training and regulation of psychotherapists and psychotherapeutic counsellors. Its register is accredited by the government's Professional Standards Authority.
As part of its commitment to protect the public, it works to improve access to psychotherapy, to support and disseminate research, to improve standards and to respond effectively to complaints against its members.
UKCP standards cover the range of different psychotherapies. Registration is obtained by training or accrediting with one of its member organisations, or by holding a European Certificate in Psychotherapy. Accredited by the Professional Standards Authority.
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
Other areas of counselling I deal with
Couples Counselling
Couples Therapy
Relationship Therapy
Pschotherapy
Social Phobia
Social Anxiety
Depression
Anxiety
Generalised Anxiety
Loss
Bereavement
Relationship Breakdown
Parenting Issues
Family Issues
Agoraphobia
Sadness
Family Estrangement
Adult Child Estrangement
Health Issues
Disability
Therapies offered
Fees
£65.00 - £90.00
Health Insurance/EAP
Additional information
Fees in Camberley:-
Individuals - £65
Couples - £75
Online sessions - £65
Fees in Canary Wharf
Individuals and Couples - £90
When I work
I offer therapy sessions Monday-Thursday, on the hour, between 9am and 7pm (last session 6pm).
Further information
My style of therapy is very down-to-earth, open and egalitarian. I regard therapy not only as relational, but also as an collaborative and educational experience - I am happy to share my theoretical thinking and am open about my rationale for the course of our work. I also believe that change happens outside of the consulting room as well as inside, so part of the collaboration is sometimes in designing 'homework' tasks so that you can be proactive in making changes outside of the sessions.
Sometimes clients are not looking to make great changes in their lives, but instead want a forum to talk about thoughts and feelings to enable them to come to terms with things that have happened or are happening in their lives. I am very happy to provide that and it is often the relationship with the therapist which is facilitative here.
I do not commit you to a fixed number of sessions, but allow you to explore the issues in your own time scales and we collaborate on how to proceed at regular review points.
I have noticed as my experience has grown that I have become more adept at assessment and find that I am able to arrive more quickly at an insightful understanding of issues which clients bring. This is in part experience, but also comes from having worked for a long time in contexts where the number of sessions is limited, so coming more directly to the heart of the problem is essential . But I am also accustomed to working long-term and the deeper level of change which this work can bring.
I am also happy to do ongoing Personal Development Support
