About Me
About me
I'm a qualified counsellor with a real desire to see lives changed for the better. I'm passionate about what I do and working with clients is a highlight of my week.
I'm an accredited member of both the BACP (British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy) and the ACC (Association of Christian counsellors.)
Though originally a Maid of Kent, I lived and worked in Herefordshire for more than 2 decades, and now live in rural Wiltshire. This means I'm familiar with farming, local and rural issues, and the frustrations and challenges as well as the joys country life can present.
How I came to be a counsellor
I discovered in my teens that people considered me a good listener, but it was some years before I finally took the plunge to train as a therapist.
Since coming to Herefordshire, I've worked for various charitable organisations locally in both paid and voluntary capacities, supporting young families, working with Churches Together and for a national bereavement support charity, and through these roles found myself often called upon to be a supportive listener.
I became a counsellor because I really enjoy:
- Listening to people and giving them time
- Encouraging them as they work through the challenges life throws at us all occasionally
- Building a therapeutic relationship with a person
- Seeing those “lightbulb moments” when someone suddenly gains an insight that helps reveal the next step or sheds light on a mystery from their past
- Being witness to, and part of the process of unfolding what's been stressful or hidden is a privilege and deeply satisfying.
I can honestly say it's the best decision I've ever made in my professional life.
COGNITIVE BEHAVIOURAL THERAPY (CBT)
The idea behind Cognitive Behavioural Therapy is that how we think affects how we feel and behave. These three aspects of human life are interconnected, so CBT and similar theories such as Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy, REBT, suggest that changing one will impact all three. Click below to learn how we apply this in counselling.
PSYCHODYNAMIC THEORY
The brainchild of Sigmund Freud, (1856-1939)1 often called the Father of Psychoanalysis, who learned about the use of hypnosis whilst at the university & General Hospital in Vienna, but later developed the idea of getting patients to lie down and talk without prompting. He analysed what they said, focussing on the unconscious, and “Psychoanalysis” was born.
PERSON CENTRED THERAPY
Psychologist Carl Rogers developed this theory as an alternative to Freudian and Cognitive Behavioural models. Foundational to his ideas was the notion that the client is the expert on themselves, with the therapist seen as an equal. The emphasis was on the relationship that would be built between client and counsellor and the client’s priorities would be what determined the direction of therapy.
