Throughout my career I have worked with a number of presenting issues such as:

​

Isolation & loneliness. Anxiety. Depression. Stress. Bullying. Family dynamic challenges. Challenging behaviour. Anger issues. Body dysmorphia. Self-Harm. Suicide ideation. Panic Attacks. Flashbacks. Nightmares and sleep issues. Intrusive thoughts/voices. Post-traumatic stress. Complex-PTSD. PTSD.  Dissociative identity disorder. Low self-esteem & self-worth issues. Bereavement. Sexuality issues. Gender issues. Rape and Assault. Domestic abuse & violence. Childhood abuse, neglect and sexual harm. Life-changing accidents, illness or losses. Addiction. 

​

My career started as a Health and wellbeing practitioner for children and young people in and around  the Lancaster and Morecambe area, working for a local charity that I am now the clinical lead for. Working with children and young people has always been a passion and it's an area that I still focus heavily on today. Later in my career I found working with adults equally rewarding and as I qualified as a counsellor, I began working more with adults in a charity that focused on addiction. 

​

I have worked with the children and young people's charity for almost 10 years now, I have also spent time working for a sexual abuse charity and an addiction charity.  With all these types of work, the prevalent theme was trauma and I chose to focus my professional development on understanding how the brain and body (somatics) are impacted when we find ourselves under chronic and sustained distress. 

​

I work in an integrative therapeutic way, using parts of many modalities together to help you get your best from your time in counselling. My practice is for everyone, from all walks of life, cultures, religions and backgrounds. 

​

Just like Jan, I am proud to be an inclusive, ambassador of the LGBTQIA+ community who will, without judgement, support you in any capacity to make sense of any relational, gender or sexuality concerns. 

​​

My Training

​

​Person-centred counselling

 

Person-centred counselling is based on the humanistic philosophy that every individual has the tools inside to create a more positive way of living. Using person-centred counselling skills as the basis of my sessions, provides the space for you to explore your issues without judgement. Person-centred is the bedrock of my relational depth, it is a gentle, empathic and honest therapy style that promotes self-exploration and autonomy. 

​

IEMT - Integral Eye Movement Therapy (taken from: iemttraining.com)

​

Every experience causes a person to create a new kinaesthetic response to that experience and an Emotional Imprint is formed. This is how that person learns to feel about the experience. (kinaesthetic - knowing parts of the body and how they are working for you)

​

For example, at work your boss may say: “I’d like a word with you in my office”. We may immediately feel like a child again being addressed by our parents, no matter how old we are. We may even be older than the boss. This is an example of an Emotional Imprint in action.

​

IEMT asks the question, "how did this person learn to feel this way about this thing?" and looks to resolve then it.

​

Identity is in a continual process of evolution, development and change. Our environment can have a huge impact on this.

Example: A shop floor worker who is promoted to management thus is no longer “one of us”, they are now “one of them - “the management”. This can create dramatic changes to status and acceptance by former workmates and new colleagues alike. So we can start asking ourselves “Who am I now?” “What does that mean to me”, “Where do I fit myself into this organisation”

Identity issues can have deeper aspects that can feed forward into the environment and occur in many contexts. Some are more robust than others such as gender identity, identity as a father, mother, wife, husband etc.

​

IEMT addresses the issue of, "how did this person learn to be this way?"

​

Problematic issues can arise from adopting an identity and cause patterns of chronic behaviour such as: “I am a depressive”, “I am a worrier”, “I am an anxious person”. Hence this becomes imprinted and we get absorbed within this new identity. It becomes how we primarily see ourselves and present ourselves to others.

IEMT specifically addresses the identity imprint and enables the therapist to by-pass the beliefs that often support the undesired identity such as, "I cannot do that because I am a worrier or a depressive"

IEMT is a proposed brief therapy and an evolving field that enables a core state change in minimal time.

Evolution: “IEMT is not the grand unified theory of therapy and change work and is an evolving model. It is an invaluable adjunctive for the trained therapist and when used in experienced hands, can provide an excellent remedial tool for emotional change, plus a generative tool for identity change.  IEMT enables positive results where previously a good outcome might have appeared improbable”.

                                                                                                                                                                                    Andrew T Austin, creator of IEMT

​

​

CPD & Training (2018 - to present)

​

Integral Eye Movement Therapy

3-Phased Trauma Model

Breathwork for Regulation & Trauma Resolution

Designated Safeguarding Officer Training

Designated Safeguarding Lead

Trauma Awareness Training

Safety Techniques in Trauma

Helping Clients Access Resources States

Resource States in Trauma Work

Person-Centred Expressive Arts Therapy

Somatic Therapy Diploma Course

Information Sharing & Consent – for People Working with Children

Sexual Abuse and an Introduction to Child Sexual Exploitation

Information Governance

Online Safety – Risks to Children

Safeguarding Children – Levels 1 & 2

Neglect

Female Genital Mutilation

Hidden Harm: Parental Substance Misuse, Parental

Mental Ill-Health and Domestic Abuse

Safeguarding Adults Level 1

Safeguarding Adults Level 2

Emotional Abuse

Human Trafficking & Modern Slavery

Domestic Abuse & Intimate Partner Violence

Safeguarding Children with Disabilities

Mental Capacity Act

The Prevent Duty

Understanding Trauma & Building Resilience in Practice

​Understanding & Treating Trauma & PTSD

Level 4 Diploma in Therapeutic Counselling Skills

Suicidal Behaviours

Introduction to Drug & Alcohol Awareness

Data Protection & Information Security Awareness

Understanding & Treating Trauma & PTSD

Self-Harm & Suicidal Behaviours in Children & Young People

A Person-Centred Approach to Dissociation-Informed Practice

Domestic Abuse & Intimate Partner Violence

Impact of Domestic Abuse on Children

Impact of Domestic Abuse on Children & Young People: Extra-Familial Harm

Suicide in Historically Marginalised Communities: Perception Versus Reality

New Insights & Strategies: Crisis Safety Planning with Youth & Teens

Parts, Ego States, and Fragmented Selves in Shame & Self-Loathing

Embracing Suicidal Parts: Using IFS to Heal Traumatic Wounds

Healing from the Bottom Up – Peter Levine

The Essentials of Effective Trauma Treatment: How to Go Beyond Technique

Honour-Based Abuse

Impact of Domestic Abuse on Children & Young People

Safeguarding & Child Protection Working Together to Safeguard Children - Level 3

Self-Harm

Suicide Prevention

Bullying, Self-Harm & Suicide

Attachment, Child Development & Resilience

Understanding & Working Therapeutically with Survivors of Sexualised Trauma(s)

Supporting Young People & Families who are Experiencing Serious Illness, Bereavement or Loss

Youth Mental Health First Aid

Sexual Violence Basic Awareness

Domestic Abuse Basic Awareness

Understanding Autism

Attachment, Child Development & Resilience

Young People’s Wellbeing

Introduction to Child Psychology

Introducing Ageing

Experiential Eating Disorder Training

 

​

​

​

​

​

​​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​