Always a listener in my teenage years, I found myself in my mid-twenties, depressed, disillusioned with work life and completing various college courses to try and escape the drudgery I felt working in administration.  

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Having worked in a few NHS services, volunteering for AgeUK and ChildLine, and becoming more aware of mental health in general, I searched for counselling courses.

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Beginning with listening skills and progressing to a counselling skills course I was impatient to get to the ‘good stuff’ and start helping people.  My plans to continue with the counselling diploma were thwarted by funding cuts causing a small existential crisis because I had finally found something I wanted to keep doing! With the wonder of hindsight I can see that being ‘forced’ to undertake a BSc at Sherwood Psychotherapy Training Institute in Nottingham has benefited me endlessly and in turn will benefit my clients.  SPTI has a great reputation within therapy circles, a fact I did not learn until well into the second year, and having been through their teaching and come out of the other side I now understand why.

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My greatest learning from this degree was about love, relationships and attachment theory (more here).  Essentially, what makes us human.

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Completing a placement at the Centre for Trauma, Resilience and Growth in Nottingham, I continued volunteering as a visiting therapist for a number of years post-qualifying to further consolidate my trauma-working skills and to help some of the most vulnerable people in Nottingham access a service they would otherwise not be able to.

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Since qualifying I embarked on training to 'take therapy outdoors' in September 2019 and began seeing clients outside in 2020 - perfect timing really! I have also completed the classroom element of the supervision diploma with SPTI and am looking for supervisees to complete the clinical element.

 

And as we enter 2023, I am transitioning my practice to the green spaces of Derbyshire.   

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My aims for the future include setting up some groups, incorporating storytelling into my practice. writing more about the nature of being human on Instagram and Medium, and continue helping people uncover, understand and grow.