About me
What kind of counsellor am I?
I am a fully qualified and accredited Counsellor and Psychotherapist with current DBS Certification and Disclosure Scotland PVG Membership, and for over 25 years have specialised in working creatively and successfully with children, young people and young adults forming a safe environment where they can focus and thrive.
My Counselling and Psychotherapy Practice offers clients a calm pause and a place where they can feel hope and listened to with compassion and respect. Where their best interests are paramount to our work in therapy and positive change feels reachable.
Essentially a safe space for us to carefully untangle the knots, and remove the barriers often caused by a sense of feeling overwhelmed by deep worries, loneliness, fear and anxiety, whether buried or present.
My values are set in honesty, kindness and acceptance, and I understand there is no meaningful work without trust - which has to be earned and felt.
I specialise in working with trauma; general anxiety disorder and anxiety issues; ADHD; depression; grief and loss; attachment styles; relationships; negative thinking and critical and harmful belief systems.
I've worked for the NHS, setting up Counselling Clinics within GP Surgeries for Children and Young People, in primary and secondary schools, and Further Education as well as Crisis agencies. My earlier background experience was in the theatre, film, tv and music industry.
I am also a Counselling Supervisor and Consultant and work with qualified Counsellors, as well as Counselling Students, who specialise in working with Children and Young People (CYP) and Young Adults.
How does counselling start?
- A free initial consultation is really helpful and offers a sense of what counselling is, and whether I can help. I hope that I'm able to put you, your child or young person at ease and answer any queries you may have.
Confidentiality:
- The nature of trust is enhanced by the acceptance that the sessions are confidential unless there is a disclosure of personal safety being at risk.
Where do I work from?
- I currently have availability to offer f2f, online and telephone sessions in East Finchley N2 9EB & N2 9EA, and Muswell Hill, N10 1LJ.
- I very much hope you will find me understanding in fitting in with my client's, and their family's commitments when arranging session times.
Training, qualifications & experience
- I work in private practice and spent three years developing a new counselling service within the NHS for our children and young people to access through their GP Surgery. I have also set up several counselling services in schools, and have met with Policy Makers within the Scottish Government to discuss the long term benefits of counselling in schools and creating an accessible and relatable mental health service for our young through the safety of their GP practice.
- I started my training to specialise as a *psychodynamic children and young people's counsellor in 2012. I am also a certified child and adolescent trauma professional, and have specialised training and experience in working with ADHD. I have the privilege of working with all age groups, and for many years worked as a Music Specialist in Education and privately.
- It is always my objective that the work experiences I've had, offers my clients a kind space where they can find acceptance and feel able to risk talking about how they feel. Together we start the work to unearth and make sense of the feelings that cause anxieties, and make us feel stuck and scared. It is this new insight that guides us towards how we can realistically change negative, critical thought patterns into more rational, healthy belief systems, revealing personal strengths and the capacity to process often very difficult personal issues.
- * You can find out more about what psychodynamic training means by simply carrying out a search on the internet.
Qualifications include:
- PG Diploma Counselling Children & Young People (Simpson House, Edinburgh & Middlesex University)
- Certified Child & Adolescent Trauma Professional, IATP, PESI
- Certificate in Counselling Supervision ~ COSCA, Glasgow
- Certificate in Counselling Skills ~ COSCA, Glasgow
- HND Early Years Development & Education (now Childhood Practice), Glasgow
- Diploma in Pre-School Practice, Pre-school Learning Alliance, London
- Fine Arts Certificate, LCC
- Child & Adolescent Trauma Professional (Certified), PESI
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
Other areas of counselling I deal with
Though I specialise in working with children, young people and young adults, I currently work with clients with an age range from 4 to 60 years of age, and would be very happy to work with older clients.
Therapies offered
Photos & videos
Fees
£60.00 per session
Concessions offered for
Health Insurance/EAP
Additional information
Fees are £60 for hourly Counselling sessions and for Counselling Supervision. Concessions are available as detailed above. I am open and happy to discuss fees for students that work for both of us.
When I work
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I currently have availability for f2f, online and phone sessions.
Further information
I will always aim to reply to enquiries within a couple of hours. If I have been unable to get back to you within that timescale it will be due to client work and I will be in contact as soon as I can. The consulting rooms I work from offer a secure intercom system, confidentiality, well maintained amenities, with some unrestricted parking in quiet residential streets.
