I trained at Edinburgh University as a mature student. I have long experience of the pressures of the working world – and of life. I come from a large family and I have raised my own children.

My first career was in journalism. I was an interviewer on a national newspaper and a columnist on three. Over many years of interviewing people from all age groups, cultures and walks of life, I witnessed how emotionally vulnerable the seemingly strong can be – and how the fragile can find hidden strength when life demands it.

As a columnist I charted societal trends like the increasing numbers of us who live alone. I saw how the shift to virtual communication replaced meeting friends and deepening real connection. I observed the pressure for men as well as women to look good, be successful and make money in an increasingly insecure world. I witnessed the growing epidemic of loneliness and its corrosive emotional effects.

I re-trained because I recognised that any one of us can find life’s pressure too great. I knew from experience that being supported at the right time can help us back on track.

I have a Post Graduate Diploma in Counselling from Edinburgh University (passed with distinction). It was a training in both psycho-dynamic theory (which looks at how our past has shaped us) and person-centered theory (which emphasizes our on-going innate capacity for healing and growth).

In my practice I integrate the two approaches. I will take an interest in your formative years but I acknowledge that the only expert on you is you. My role is to walk alongside, to support you through focused listening and true understanding. I may sometimes offer a tentative observation and occasionally I will mirror back what I am hearing so that you better understand yourself.

(Through continuous professional development I have also gained an understanding of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy.)

I abide by BACP‘s code of ethics. I am also a member of COSCA, the national professional body for counselling in Scotland. I am fully insured and I receive regular supervision. I am committed to continuous professional development and I regularly attend training courses and conferences

I am based in central Edinburgh at EH1 Therapies in Forth Street. I also volunteer one day a week for the charity, PF Counselling.

Qualifications

• Post Graduate Diploma in Counselling. Edinburgh University (Distinction)
• Post Graduate Certificate in Counselling. Edinburgh University

 

Memberships

• BACP (British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy). I abide by its Code of Ethics and Code of Practice

Continuous Professional Development

Courses

• Core Process Psychotherapy Meditation Retreat.
• Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Depression.
• Essentials of Psychosynthesis.
• Sound Mind: Mindfulness Course

Conferences. 

• Fragile Self: working with narcissistic vulnerability, grandiosity, shame and alienation.
• Interpretation or Intersubjective Communication?

Workshops.

• Anger: Transforming our Struggles.
• Money can’t buy me love.
• Erotic Transference.
• On becoming more in the therapeutic relationship.
• Why Race Matters.
• The Body in Person Centred Counselling