Counselling qualifications and experience
Following my qualification (Post-graduate Diploma in Counselling) at the University of East Anglia in 2003, I worked in the field of addictions counselling for several years. Since 2006, I’ve worked as a counsellor in general practice in the NHS and so have experience of working with a broad range of people and a broad range of problems.
I have been an accredited counsellor/psychotherapist with the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) since 2005. I hold a Post-graduate Certificate in Supervision and am qualified as a supervisor within the NHS IAPT programme.
Counselling approach
My core training is in the person-centred approach to counselling, sometimes also called Rogerian psychotherapy because it is based on the work of the American psychologist Carl Rogers. I have trained with some of the most innovative writers and teachers in this approach: Brian Thorne, Campbell Purton and Mike Worrall.
Background
I have a background in philosophy, holding a doctorate from the University of Cambridge, and having worked as an academic at the University of St Andrews and the University of Oxford. I also spent some years working in the IT industry.
Interests
I have an interest in the spiritual dimensions of life, meditation and mindful living. I find it interesting to consider some of the big questions such as the meaning or purpose of life or the nature of human identity. I have an interest in a technique called ‘focusing’, which was first described and popularised by the psychotherapist and philosopher Eugene Gendlin. Focusing involves taking a step back from ones familiar thoughts and feelings about a particular life situation, and getting a broader ‘felt sense’ of the situation that derives from a clear space of attention. Felt senses are often expressed in an embodied way. The technique of focusing can help people find more creative ways forward when they are stuck in old thought or feeling patterns.