My professional background & approach

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I trained initially in person centred therapy, qualifying in 2005. I found this approach, from the work of Carl Rogers, to be very warm,  accepting and human - and it made so much sense to me. It is an approach I have benefitted from personally and I consider it as the foundation to what I offer. The key values are

 

Empathy: an ongoing intention from me to understand your experience from your perspective. To step into your shoes.

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Unconditional positive regard: to honour and respect your perspective, decisions and values, your way of being in the world, not to impose external values.

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Congruence – to bring myself authentically and kindly to our relationship

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Along the way I have trained in other approaches, which influence how I work. These include art therapy, holistic massage, yoga teaching, meditation teaching, emdr and systemic therapy.

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I take a systemic perspective- contextualising personal difficulties in wider frameworks of society, culture, organisational, economic and political contexts. I value diversity and appreciate working with people …

​I am a qualified somatic experiencing practitioner - trained in the approach developed by Peter Levine.  Often after trauma or in difficult times, we feel disturbed in our bodies, noticing uncomfortable sensations of anxiety, anger or shutdown. By learning to pay attention and allow what is happening in our bodies, such sensations can pass through, opening us back into aliveness and capacity.

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​​​​I have had a daily meditation practice for many years and I teach meditation and mindfulness.

I'm interested in spirituality and how that manifests for each one of us, whether through formal or informal religion or personal beliefs.

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In my experience spirituality goes hand in hand with embodied experience which is the reason for the name of this website ‘somatic spiritual’.  When we are inhabiting our physical experience, in touch with our senses, connected with the earth and elements, in the present moment, there is more chance of us being connected with spirituality – a sense of being part something greater, outside of our narrow ego experience. I see spirituality as an embodied experience rather than an intellectual pursuit.

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I have worked as a therapist for over 20 years in a number of contexts; with survivors of abuse, people suffering from anxiety and depression, with those who have experienced many types of trauma and loss, with refugees and asylum seekers and with survivors of torture.  I have worked with men affected by sexual abuse and in settings with women affected by many forms of abuse. I have worked with many women at different life stages who are affected by gender specific issues relating to matrescence, peri-menopause and menopause. I am interested in neurodivergence and personally I score highly on the hsp ( highly sensitive person) scale.

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I am still learning and developing as a therapist and am interested in all the different experiences that people have in life and I am committed to ongoing CPD to expand my knowledge and understanding for as long as I am working as a therapist.

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I was a co-founder and director of a Community Interest Company for over 5 years, delivering training, and offering supervision in order to provide free therapy for refugees and those who had been trafficked.

 

As a supervisor for over 10 years I have worked with both trainee supervisee therapists and experienced, qualified practitioners. I have worked with a range of non clinical workers such as advocacy workers, support workers, lawyers, administrators and social workers. I’ve worked with many different agencies specialising in support to women affected by gender based violence, men affected by sexual abuse, refugee organisations, community groups and in lgbtqi+ settings.

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As a trainer I have worked with many groups and organisations over the years, specialising in areas of working with trauma, vicarious trauma and self care.