About me
I began my counselling career approximately 23 years ago, working with people with long term, debilitating illnesses, at The John Richardson Trust (which then became Tees Valley Counselling Services.) I took a break from counselling while my children were growing up and worked in a Primary Care setting for 13 years, delivering short term therapy, until I decided to focus on my private practice.
I am an accredited member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) abiding by their code of ethics and best practice.
My core training was in Person Centred counselling, but over the years I have developed a more integrative approach to therapy and am quite capable in using a number of different ‘tools’ of the trade, including Transactional Analysis (TA), Gestalt, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, (CBT), Bereavement Counselling Mindfulness and healing with creative media. I engage in regular continued personal development , keeping my skills honed and updated.
I offer face to face counselling, online and telephone counselling in my very comfortable therapy room in Billingham. Unfortunately, the building is not wheelchair friendly, but I do offer home visits to compensate for this.
Training, qualifications & experience
I have a background in nursing, qualifying as a State Enrolled Nurse in 1977. I became a qualified counsellor in 1997.
Qualifications:
BSc. Anthropology: Health and Human Sciences
Diploma In Counselling
Associated Examining Board (AEB) and Central School of Counselling and Therapy (CSCT): Certificate in Counselling Skills and Theory
NCFE Level 4: Certificate in Further Counselling, specialising in Bereavement and Loss and Intimacy and Relationship Counselling
City and Guilds: Certificate in Skills, Theory and Practice and Personal Development
Member organisations
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.

British Association for Counselling & Psychotherapy
BACP is one of the UK’s largest professional bodies for counselling and psychotherapy. Therapists registered with the Association fall into a number of different membership categories such as Individual Member, Registered Member MBACP and Registered Member MBACP (Accred), each standing for different levels of training and experience. MBACP (Accred) and MBACP (Snr Accred) members have achieved a substantial level of training and experience approved by the Association.
Registered members can be found on the BACP Register, which was the first register to achieve Accredited Voluntary Register status issued by the Professional Standards Authority. Individual Members will have completed an appropriate counselling and/or psychotherapy course and started to practise, but will not appear on the BACP Register until they've progressed to Registered Member MBACP status.
All members are bound by a Code of Ethics & Practice and a Complaints Procedure. Accredited by the Professional Standards Authority.
Accredited register membership

Accredited Register Scheme
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
Although I work with relationship problems and family problems, I do not offer couples counselling. I work in a psychodynamic way to help individuals understand what is happening in their relationships.
Website: http://aforinspiration.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/AForInspiration/
Therapies offered
Fees
My fees are £40 per hour, £30 for students and concessions, on proof student ID, benefits or state pension claims (limited places for concessionary treatments: please ask if I have availability).
Concessions offered for
Further information
I offer concessions for people on benefits pensioners, students, keyworkers and other low income groups. (£25.00 per session). However, I have limited spaces for concessions. Contact me to find out if I have available slots; proof of eligibility is required.
I also offer home visits, on rare occasions where there are no options to visit my therapy room, but again, as home visits require extra time, I don't offer a lot of these therapy slots.
There are some rules to follow if you require home visits, which we can discuss should this be what you need.
http://aforinspiration.com/