I am a fully qualified psychotherapist registered with the National Register of Hypnotherapists and Psychotherapists. My work is strongly influenced by Jung’s Analytical Psychology, and I am also trained in hypnotherapy. Working as an auxiliary nurse in psychiatry in the 1970s led me to a lifelong study of the human psyche – mind, emotions and spirit – and to an early interest in depth psychology. I worked for many years with people recovering from addictions to drugs and alcohol, and observed the tremendous capacity human beings have for growth and for life, whatever circumstances they have come from, especially when the truth of their history and feelings is honoured and explored in a safe way. There are undoubtedly many ways to do this, but I found that psychotherapy provides a place where this can happen, and that healing is possible. As well as studying and practising psychology and psychotherapy I developed yoga and meditation practises which helped me to understand more deeply the connections between the mind and the body, and my diploma research was into the contemporary uses of shamanism in psychotherapeutic practise.
In addition I specialised for over ten years in assessing and counselling people with issues around gender identity, and served as a Trustee of the Beaumont Trust, a charity which was founded to educate and inform on all aspects of gender expression.