After I completed a degree in Psychology in 1993 I continued to have an interest in the workings of the mind and in particular the mind-body connection and the power of mind-set, heart-set, health-set and soul-set.
In 2000 I decided to combine my interest in psychology and counselling with my career in education and qualified with a higher diploma in Career Guidance and Counselling and worked in a high school for 11 years in this position which I really enjoyed. There, I provided a whole school service with individual and group guidance to young people age 11-20. I completed my master’s in education specialising in CGC in 2007. I am experienced and thoroughly enjoy working with young people and in managing the issues that arise within this complex developmental stage in a person’s life. I also trained in CBT and SFBT to broaden my approach.
During this time, I became increasingly interested in the positive psychology movement and I qualified as a Life coach. More recently in 2018 I updated as an Emotional Wellbeing Coach in Scotland. My emotional wellbeing journey led me to Nia (Neuromuscular Integrative Action), a sensory based movement practice of which I have become an instructor and has led to my interest in somatic movement and therapy and to training with Gabor Mate in 2022-3. I have also explored nature therapy and I hope to merge my interest in somatics, movement and nature therapy with talk therapy in the future.
In my practice I use the person-centred approach as my foundation and use Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Solution Focused Therapy and Psycho-dynamic therapy depending on the needs of the client. In keeping with continuing professional development and in response to the need to provide a unique lens to support growth I have gained further training to become trauma informed and neurodiverse informed. I have experience in helping clients with stress, anxiety, relationship issues, motivation, self-esteem, confidence, career challenges and coping with life changes.
Additional areas of focus: LGBT, Family conflicts, Grief, Intimacy-related issues, Sleeping disorders, Depression, Coaching, Compassion fatigue, ADHD, Attachment issues, Autism and Asperger Syndrome, Cancer, Co-dependency, Commitment issues, Communication problems, Divorce and separation, Family problems, Forgiveness, Guilt and shame, Infidelity, Intellectual disability, Isolation / loneliness, Life purpose, Men's issues, Midlife crisis, Money and financial issues, Post-traumatic stress, Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), Self-love, Sexuality, Social anxiety and phobia, Women's issues, Workplace issues, Young adult issues
Clinical approaches: Client-Centred Therapy, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Existential Therapy, Mindfulness Therapy, Solution-Focused Therapy, Psychodynamic therapy, Trauma informed, Neurodiverse informed.