"There are few gifts that one person can give to another in this world as rich as understanding"
- Rollo May
My Story so Far
Growing up in a military family taught me adaptability, resilience, and the ability to build trust quickly — qualities that have guided me throughout my 30-year career as a Person-Centred counsellor working in the community. Those early experiences of constant change helped me feel at ease with uncertainty and gave me a deep appreciation for the strength people show when navigating their own challenges.
Over three decades of community-based practice, I’ve seen time and again how powerful it can be when someone feels truly heard, understood, and accepted without judgement. My Person-Centred approach allows people to explore what’s going on for them at their own pace, discover their inner resources, and move toward greater clarity and confidence.
At the heart of my work is a long-standing commitment to helping individuals overcome barriers, reconnect with their potential, and find their own way forward. This is the case whether they’re facing life transitions, emotional difficulties, or the quieter struggles that often go unseen.
My Experience
In the 30 years since I completed my counselling training I have pursued a varied career largely in healthcare management while continuing my counselling practice. My experience working alongside primary care practitioners increased my appreciation of the need for services to be based within communities. This means that they are more easily accessible and those working within them have a greater understanding of the communities that they serve. Since 2010 I have devoted my time to my community based counselling practice and have added coaching and supervision as additional skills.
Being based within the community I have worked with clients from a wide variety of backgrounds and ages; from young adults facing the challenges of building a life to older people getting to grips with life's changes. Their individual struggles have taken place within the wider context of, for example, economic challenges through austerity and the global challenge of the covid pandemic. Throughout I have been aware of the uniqueness of everyone's experience and the very personal ways that each of us has responded.
More recently, I have contributed at an organisational and national level as a Trustee, a Board Member, and the Deputy Chair of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP). This gave me a fascinating insight into the very different perceptions of counselling as a profession both at a national and international level. I left that role more committed than ever to pursuing the person centred approach in my community based practice.
For the last five years I have been supervising students as they complete their training to become person-centred counsellors. It is encouraging to see the next generation of counsellors having the same commitment to the values of meeting clients where they are and working with them to bring about permanent positive change.
My Therapeutic Approach
I work using the Person-Centred Approach, a way of counselling developed by psychologist Carl Rogers, who believed that people grow and heal best when they’re truly listened to and accepted for who they are. His work shaped modern therapy by putting the client, not the therapist. at the centre of the process.
In our sessions, this means the focus is on you: your thoughts, your feelings, and whatever you’re going through. I’m not here to tell you what to do or steer the conversation. Instead, I offer a warm, understanding space where you can talk freely and feel genuinely heard.
Three things guide the way I work:
Empathy – really taking the time to understand things from your perspective.
Acceptance – offering a non-judgemental space where you don’t have to be anything other than yourself.
Authenticity – being real and genuine with you, so we can build a trusting, human connection.
Many people find that when they’re met with this kind of understanding, things start to make more sense, and they feel more grounded, clearer, and better able to move forward. We go at a pace that suits you, exploring whatever feels important in your own time.
My Qualifications
I completed my Counselling Diploma in the 1990's which then led through research and academic study to a Master's Degree in therapeutic counselling. In my work with individuals we would often be focussing on relationships and this prompted me to training in working with couples that was based squarely within the person centred approach.
I have always recognised the importance and value of supervision and so expanded the scope of my pracrice by completing a diploma in integrative supervision of individuals and groups. This has opened the door to a wider experience of exploring the work of other practitioners, which has further enhanced my own practice. I have recently also been a tutor on a supervision training course for counsellors which further expanded my own knowledge and experience.
For many years I was resistant to the prospect of working online rather than in person, however the covid epidemic changed all of that as my practice had to move exclusively on line. This has now become a cornerstone of my practice and I recognise the differences and also the value of working in this way. To crystallise my learning I completed an advanced certificate in online and telephone counselling. I continually update my learning and experience through additional study.
Since I started my counselling training I have been a member of what has now become the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy. As counselling is not currently a regulated profession, it is important to belong to a professional organisation that provides access to a register of practitioners that is overseen by the Professional Standards Authority. I went through an additional evaluation to become an Accredited Member of the BACP. I subscribe to the BACP's ethical Framework and am subject to their procedures for ensuring Professional Conduct.