I am a senior-accredited practitioner and professional member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy and I’ve been working in the field of counselling and therapy for over twenty years.  I trained at Newcastle University and the College of Ripon & York St John (Leeds University), being awarded a Masters in Counselling with distinction.  Post training I studied transactional analysis for a year, as well as workshops in relationship counselling with Joseph Zinker.  While working in the NHS I attended in-service mental health-related courses, together with training in post-traumatic stress and critical incident de-briefing.   I have worked with the Samaritans, and professionally as a counsellor, in drug and alcohol intervention services, primary and secondary care in the NHS, as well as retaining a regular private caseload of counselling and supervision.   As a trainer I developed and managed a range of counselling courses at Carlisle College, including an accredited diploma course.  I was privileged to assist many to grow in the profession of psychological helping by facilitating training in the person-centred way which allowed for individuality and personal growth.  The person-centred trainer, like the person-centred counsellor or psychotherapist, is as much a companion on a shared journey as a guide pointing out the way.  To hold this belief with humility is all-important for the therapist.   Coming to France, I wanted to make available a place for therapeutic rest and change, which echoed the philosophy of RD Laing and was grounded in the insights of Carl Rogers.  I believe that I am on the way to achieving this.   return to home page