confidence-building
courses 2008

About me

My first degree is a BA in European Studies, for which I studied French and German. When I got interested in counselling and therapy in my mid-thirties, I first did an introductory course, followed by an RSA Certificate in Counselling Skills, at the Swarthmore Centre in Leeds. I also attended assertiveness training and stress management courses there. I then trained at Park Lane College and Leeds Metropolitan University and gained a Diploma/BSc degree in therapeutic counselling. I also have a certificate in therapeutic groupwork from Group Analysis North. My own therapy has been a vital componemt in my own personal development: I have been in individual and group psychotherapy, have been in two series of psychodrama groups and have participated in numerous workshops within the Co-Counselling International network.

After working in industrial export sales for several years, and then in the music industry, I started counselling in late 1992. I have worked at Burley Counselling Service, often with people referred by their GP, at LMU as a Student Counsellor, as a Divorce and Separation Counsellor, in the NHS as counsellor in primary care, and privately. I have also worked in conflict resolution as a mediator for Leeds Family Mediation Service.

I have taught a number of co-counselling personal development courses and assertiveness skills courses in the Leeds area. Within the Co-Counselling International network I have led many workshops on a variety of topics (eg death, loss, money, choosing, rejection, men's groups, eating and feeding, here-and-now processes, psychodrama, unfinished family issues, and using masks).