I qualified from Gloucestershire Counselling Service (GCS) with a diploma in Psychodynamic Counselling (training accredited by the British Psychoanalytic Council) and then took a post-graduate Associate year gaining further training in Time-Limited Psychodynamic therapy.

I have worked for GCS for several years in their adult service (a service accredited by the British Association of Counsellors and Psychotherapists) providing both open-ended and time-limited counselling for men and women. I am experienced in helping clients with a variety of issues including stress, depression, anxiety, work or relationship-related problems and trauma. I have trained at Tavistock Relationships and gained a certificate in the study of the couples relationship. I have completed the CRUSE Bereavement Foundation Course and am experienced in working with bereavement and loss.

I have also worked for Gloucestershire Rape and Sexual Abuse Centre (GRASAC) and have trained in Understanding and Working With Sexual Violence (accredited training with OCN). I work with women and men who have experienced sexual abuse both recent and historic, including childhood sexual abuse. I am experienced in working with PTSD, panic attacks, flashbacks and dissociative disorders. When working with survivors of sexual abuse I use a combination of person-centred and psychodynamic approaches. I am a qualified Independent Sexual Violence Advisor, having completed the Rape Crisis England and Wales nationally accredited ISVA training, and support survivors of sexual abuse who are going through the criminal justice system.

I am a registered member of the British Association of Counsellors and Psycotherapists (BACP) and the British Psychoanalytic Council (BPC) and adhere to the BACP Ethical Framework for the Counselling Professions.

Before training to be a counsellor I studied for a degree (BSc Hons) in Cell and Molecular Biology and a PhD in cancer genetics and worked as a research scientist in the field of cancer research for twenty years.