This professional is currently not accepting new clients at this time.
This professional is currently not accepting new clients at this time.
About me
I currently have space for face to face counselling. I am based in Morningside, Edinburgh.
I am trained as a psychodynamic counsellor. This model takes particular attention to early childhood experiences and the role that the unconscious plays in our lives and relationships. If you are finding that you keep repeating the same patterns in your life and that these patterns are causing you difficulty, then this is the approach for you. Together, we will work together to gain a greater understanding about the role your history plays in your current life and how, with enhanced insight, you might bring about constructive change. I don't have all the answers but I can offer a safe space to help you explore your life and to get to know yourself better.
I have thirty years of experience as a counsellor and have worked with people who have found themselves in crisis, or who are struggling with a current difficult patch in their lives or who perhaps are just eager to learn more about themselves. What I have found is that relationships, loss and change are the main drivers leading to someone seeking counselling. This can be relationships at work, with friends, with family (both current and from childhood) and also romantic partnerships. Loss and change are inevitable features of all of our lives and include changing career direction, becoming ill or disabled, getting older as well as bereavement. Sometimes we can cope with these experiences by ourselves or with the support of our friends and family but sometimes we need to speak to and be heard and understood by a professional someone who is not part of our day to day to day lives. This is the unique nature of counselling.
I have become increasingly interested in Emotional Inheritance. This is when trauma and emotional pain are passed, unconsciously from generation to generation. Exploring this complex area can illuminate difficulties experienced in the here and now which have previously proved confusing to the individual. Counselling can help uncover the layers of history which lie outside consciousness.
Training, qualifications & experience
Experience
Before training as counsellor, I worked as a Social Worker in a range of areas including Children and Families, Child Protection, Fostering and Adoption and Adult Psychiatry. Working with individuals in a community psychiatric setting led me to undertake training in Psychodynamic Counselling as I wished to deepen my knowledge and enhance my skills.
I have worked as a counsellor on a part time basis alongside a career move into Social Work Education, working for the Open University and subsequently the University of Edinburgh. I have now retired from my university work but continue to offer private counselling on a very part time basis.
Qualifications
- Certificate of Qualification in Social Work
- Advanced Diploma in Social Work (Child Protection)
- Accredited Mental Health Officer
- Advanced Diploma in Psychodynamic Counselling
- BACP Certificate of Proficiency
- MSc in Professional and Higher Education
- I continue to keep my practice fresh by undertaking a range of Continuous Professional Development training events, reading and study.
Professional Body
I am a registered member of the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) and abide by their Code of Ethics.
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
Therapies offered
Fees
£60.00 per session
Further information
It is preferable, wherever possible to work on a weekly basis.
The centre I work from is located near to Holy Corner in Morningside. It is easy to access by public transport and has nearby parking - tickets and regulations.
