Welcome to my website

Who am I?

I am a BACP accredited counsellor and accredited EMDR practitioner and have been working since 2004. I have worked for a wide range of different counselling organisations, specialising initially in working with addictions. I worked for Hartlepool Mind from 2008 to 2018, delivering 1-1 and group therapy and delivering community interventions in mental health. Alongside this work, I started to develop my own practice in 2008, which included providing supervision to other counsellors. I have considerable experience of helping people recover from a wide range of distressing problems. These include:

 

• I believe that the best way to help people to recover is to learn about the obstacles that prevent change and by utilising their own resources constructively. This means that I listen attentively to what the client would like to alter about their behaviour and suggest a variety of different techniques to enable them to make these changes. I believe that counselling is most effective when it is an open and active collaboration between the client and me.

• I am based in Durham and have a purpose built counselling room in my garden to provide in-person therapy. In response to the impact of the pandemic, I have developed my online practice and provide sessions remotely, either via Wellola or Zoom. I have been surprised and delighted by how effective working online can be and to now be able to work with clients from across the country in addition to the North East.

• As well as my work in private practice, I am registered with the following insurers: Bupa, Aviva, Axa and Vitality. I also work as an affiliate therapist for a wide range of Employee Assistance Programmes. These include Axa, Bupa, Lifeworks, CiC and Health Assured. Through these organisations, I work with a wide range of organisations providing counselling and trauma therapy for their employees. These include veterans of the armed forces, police forces across the country, and NHS staff, as well as many other companies.

• In addition to my counselling practice, I also provide supervision for counsellors who work from a humanistic perspective.

If you would to speak to me about arranging an appointment for help or to discuss counselling supervision, please contact me on 07528 504 248.

Qualifications

I am trained in several key approaches to counselling and psychotherapy. These include the following qualifications:

• MA in Counselling (Durham University) - completed in 2006.
• MSc in Psychology (Sunderland University) - completed in 2016.
• PGDiploma in Counselling (Durham University) - completed in 2004.
• PGDiploma in Human Givens Therapy (Nottingham Trent University - completed in 2010.
• BACP accreditation – awarded 7^th of October 2009.
• EMDR UK and Ireland accredited practitioner (Feb 2020); Parts 1-4 in EMDR - completed between 2009 and 11 (EMDR Europe).
• Introduction to Solution-Focused Brief Therapy - completed in 2008 (BRIEF).
• Certificate in Counselling Supervision II - completed in 2008 (NCFE/Paradigm Campbell Associates).
• Certificate in Couples Counselling (Jesmond Therapy Centre – completed March 2020).