My Background and Experience
Raised in a working-class family and subsequently a graduate of Oxford University, I dedicated many years to working for charities before taking a further degree and commencing a career in business and IT. Although successful, I was never able to reconcile this career with my wish to help and support others - a wish grounded in the contrasts I witnessed in younger years. Twenty years ago I decided to retrain as a counsellor and psychotherapist. A difficult choice with a young family, but I soon realized that I had found my vocation.
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As counsellor and psychotherapist, I have worked in many different settings and with many different client groups. My experience includes counselling newly released young prison offenders; counselling financially disadvantaged clients who would otherwise have no access to therapy; working as lead counsellor and team lead in a centre for survivors of sexual abuse; working as a CBT therapist and supervisor in the UK National Health Service; working as a counsellor in my own private practice.
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Of great importance in my work as counsellor is my broad range of life experience, which includes many years living and working in different countries and cultures.
My Qualifications
Certificate in Person-Centred Counselling from the University of Birmingham, England
PGDipl (masters level degree) in Psychodynamic Counselling from the University of Birmingham, England
PgDipl (masters level degree) in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy from the University of Hertfordshire, England
My Philosophy
What is it in life that brings contentment, fulfillment and a sense of happiness? This question has fascinated me my whole life, but there is no single answer. We are all different, our happiness comes in different forms. And yet it is possible to help one another. This belief, grown out of personal experience, was the reason I trained as a counsellor and psychotherapist. We are all experts in our own lives, and with professionally qualified help, we can overcome our difficulties and make steps towards the more fulfilled life we are seeking. This is the basis of my practice as counsellor.