About Me
About Me
Choosing a Therapist
Spending some time choosing a therapist before embarking on counselling or therapy is highly recommended to ensure that they have the relevant credentials. When choosing a therapist the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) has some useful information and can be found at www.bacp.co.uk
Professional Qualifications & Accreditation
My main professional qualifications are the result of 3 years training between 1999-2002, leading to the Diploma in Psychodynamic Counselling. This was followed by further training with the Adlerian Society & Institute for Individual Psychology for the Advanced Certificate in Counselling Studies, which I completed in 2004.
I became an accredited member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy in 2005, and am bound by its Ethical Framework for Good Practice. I am also a UKRC registered independent counsellor.
Professional Experience
I have gained professional experience by working as a counsellor in Cambridge in several different settings. These include:
- counselling teenagers at a special needs school
- counselling students and staff at the University of Cambridge
- counselling victims of childhood sexual abuse for a local organisation
- working as an affiliated counsellor for several Employee Assistance Providers, who provide counselling for organisations and their employees
- counselling individuals and couples in private practice
Style of Working
My style of working is integrative. Although my core training is based on the psychodynamic model, I also use CBT, Humanistic and solution-focused brief therapy as well as longer-term therapy. I have found that counselling for stress, anxiety or problems at work in Cambridge often benefit from briefer therapies whereas relationship difficulties or depression often benefit from longer-term help. The most important thing is to be flexible to the needs of the client and work accordingly.
Therapy requires commitment from both the client and the therapist, however long it lasts for, and I believe that an encouraging, collaborative and respectful therapeutic relationship enhances that commitment.