About me

​I am BACP accredited as an integrative counsellor and a BABCP accredited cognitive behaviour (CBT) therapist. I am also trained in eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing (EMDR).

 

I trained at the University of Derby and have postgraduate diplomas in integrative counselling practices and cognitive behaviour psychotherapy. During counselling training my experience began in domestic abuse at the Women's Aid and as a student counsellor at Sheffield Hallam University. When I later trained as a cognitive behaviour psychotherapist I gained experience in community mental health teams in Staffordshire and South Yorkshire, and within Staffordshire's BAC O'Connor drug and alcohol service. Once I became qualified I worked for ten years in primary care within the NHS in Staffordshire, Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire.

 

The opportunity then came for me to lecture at the University of Exeter on the BSc Applied Psychology (Clinical) course and I have the pleasure in seeing many of my former students practice now as clinical psychologists. I then moved on to the children and young people's wellbeing practitioner training course where I became Academic Lead. Following this, I took up a role as a senior lecturer at the University of Reading where I trained and supervised CAMHS therapists in CBT, and supported the University of East Anglia with their trainee practitioners. I was honoured to be invited to co-write a chapter in a text book published by Sage with former colleagues at Exeter University in 2023 too.

 

My commitments are to the ethical frameworks as outlined by the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP), the British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies (BABCP), and those of the EMDR Association. I have indemnity insurance cover and have an enhanced DBS certificate.  

 

Away from therapy I find walking in our beautiful countryside or spending time working or relaxing in the garden can help me maintain my own perspective.