Prior to becoming a psychotherapist my previous career was in education which started in the early 80's working for a college of further education in Hong Kong. On returning back to the UK I became the owner and principal of a private nursery school catering for children aged 3 months to 5 years; a business I owned and ran for ten years.
When I embarked on my psychotherapy training I was particularly keen to pursue my interest in forensic work and so I worked for five years as a psychodynamic psychotherapist in a prison setting at HMP Holloway, London.
After qualification I opened my private practice and also returned to the field of education, running and managing counselling courses for a charity organisation called the Counselling Foundation based in St Albans, UK, where I held the position of Head of Training and also lectured for twelve years.
Since 2012 when I qualified as a psychodynamic supervisor I have been providing group and individual supervision to both qualified clinicians and psychotherapists in training.
In 2014 I took up two lectureships, one at Birkbeck College, University of London as an Associate Lecturer and also at Regent's University as a Visiting Lecturer.
My specialist clinical interests include infant-parent bonding, ruptures and repairs in childhood, separation and individuation of the individual, depression and anxiety, somatisation disorders, cultural perspectives, the individual in the group, neuroscience and, the impact of childhood trauma on adult mental states. I have considerable experience in working with issues related to oppression (e.g., racism, homophobia, sexism), and personal experience of ethnic discrimination, cultural adjustment, and biculturalism.
Media Work:
I have worked as a consultant psychotherapist assessing contestants for the BBC 3 television series entitled: 'Young, Dumb & Living off Mum'.
My Clinical Practice
To some degree, I think we all probably have an internal desire to want to live a good, fulfilling and meaningful life. It is my belief that ultimately that desire eventually becomes shaped by how we relate to and manage our experiences with the people around us.
This is how I have come to think about the nature of interpersonal relationships and the essence of therapy. If a person is given space and attention, is met with curiosity, respect, and understanding, a profound change can occur over time.
In therapy, with an interested ‘other’ (therapist), we can be helped to regain a sense of being alive in this world and to reconnect (or sometimes connect for the first time) with our sense of purpose. Through the process of therapy, we are continually attempting to make sense of our place in the world. Over time, borne out of a series of making (sometimes tiny but vital) internal shifts we can hopefully feel the connections with ourselves and with the world around us, strengthening
Professionally, as a psychotherapist, I have been trained as an individual psychotherapist and group analyst, though I would say that the most important part of my learning has come from a combination of my own therapy (individual and group), personal reflections and deeper thinking that emerges from the dialogues I have with my clients.
In terms of reference points, I draw heavily from intersubjective theory, group-analytic thinking and the philosophical beliefs of existentialism. I believe that our sense of self is socially and relationally informed and that we are intensely driven towards connection to others. In my opinion, we grow when someone is genuinely interested in our uniqueness and sees us for who we are.
If you are interested in the process or working with me let's have a conversation and see what grows from there.