More about me
Passionate, warm and caring.
With a background in Engineering my path into counselling isn’t as obvious as other natural progressions. Having spent 20 plus years in the petrochemical industry I came to a point in my life where I knew I wanted more out of life. After some deliberation I embarked on a counselling skills course and then progressed onto a Counselling Diploma. I am passionate about supporting people within my role as a listener. I can testify to the benefits of ‘just’ listening to people. When we speak to family and friends, often we find they are trying to fix us, and bring their biases into the room, or are listening only to impart their opinion on us. Talking therapy is something very different. As a qualified counsellor what I bring into the session is a gentle way of being, reflecting back things said or sometimes unsaid during the session. I am also passionate about the link between body and mind and reflecting back body language and cues can be very beneficial for clients. Noticing patterns of behaviour that may be causing problems is a real strength of mine and I am open and congruent in sessions to verbalise what I’m noticing and this can lead to organic change and growth in people.
Generally we live very hectic busy lives, never just pausing to reflect on ourselves and our automatic responses to events and interactions in life.
You cannot heal what you cannot feel, and I have found in the course of my work, as a society we live more and more in our heads and have forgotten ‘The body keeps the Score’ (Bessel van Der Kolk). Our bodies hold onto the trauma and suppressed feelings and if left unprocessed we find that these can manifest negatively within the body. This has far reaching consequences for dis-ease within the body and can manifest as illnesses and autoimmune diseases.
“Neuroscience research shows that the only way we can change the way we feel is by becoming aware of our inner experience and learning to befriend what is going inside ourselves.” Bessel van der Kolk.
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If you feel the time is right for you to spend time and energy on yourself please give me a no-obligation twenty minute call. I aim to respond to all enquiries within 48 hours midweek and 72 hours if contacted at the weekend.
Training, Qualifications & Experience
• Diploma in Person Centred Counselling, Interface Edinburgh
• Certificate in Counselling skills, FDAMH, Falkirk
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​The Counselling Academy The Couples Counselling Toolkit
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Certificate in Counselling Young People & Children, University of Strathclyde
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