About me

 

I'm an experienced therapeutic counsellor providing counselling services from my private practice in Bedfordshire. I offer short-term and long-term counselling to adults and young people (aged 16 and above). 

 I have worked with individuals experiencing a wide range of difficulties in life, from relationship issues and work stress, to childhood trauma and bereavement. 

I have a special interest in the areas of: 

  • Anxiety (including general, social and health anxiety)

  • Bereavement

  • Infertility and loss

  • Low self-esteem

  • Life crisis

  • Relationship difficulties

Where I work
I currently work in private practice from my therapy room in Bedford town centre. Previously, I have worked for the not-for-profit agency, Bedford Community Counselling, as a schools counsellor for the mental health charity MIND and as a bereavement counsellor for CRUSE Bereavement UK. 

Other areas of work
Prior to training as a counsellor, I worked in a range of communication roles, including as a writer and editor, and in recent years have written much on the emotional and psychological impact of infertility and fertility treatment. 

 Membership
I am an accredited member of the British Association of Counsellors and Psychotherapists (BACP) and adhere to its codes of practice and ethics. I am also a registered member of the British Infertility Counselling Association (BICA).

​I am registered with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) and comply with GDPR regulations. I also hold an enhanced DBS certificate. 

Qualifications 

PG Certificate in Existential Psychotherapy and Counselling (Level 7) 

BACP Accreditation

BACP Certificate of Proficiency 

Diploma in Therapeutic Counselling (Level 4)

Certificate in Counselling Skills (Level 3)

Introduction to Counselling Skills (Level 2)

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Specialised training

  • British Infertility Counselling Association (BICA) Foundation course

  • Awareness in Bereavement Care (CRUSE Bereavement UK)

Continuing training

Having been particularly inspired by existential philosophy, I have been enrolled in a doctoral programme in Existential Psychotherapy and Counselling since 2018 at Emmy Van Deurzen's New School of Psychotherapy and Counselling in north London. 

Research

As part of the above programme, my research project explores the experiences of counsellors and psychotherapists in their own personal therapy - a subject that I feel is integral to the delivery of effective therapy. Signing up for counselling and deciding to confront one’s vulnerabilities in the presence of another human being is both an act of great courage and the fundamental challenge of therapy, and for this reason it feels important for therapists, however experienced, to remain closely connected to the experience of being a client. My research looks specifically at counsellors’ and psychotherapists’ experiences of vulnerability in their personal therapy and how these experiences have shaped them personally and professionally and informed how they later work with their own clients.