My Experience
I run a private practice in Docklands and Chelmsford. I also work for a legal charity as their in-house psychotherapist and for Matrix College of Counselling and Psychotherapy as a Lecturer and Year 3 Programme Lead on their BSc in Psychotherapeutic Counselling.
I worked as a counsellor within a national sexual health charity from 2011 to 2017 and during this time I assessed and counselled clients affected by HIV. I received additional training in working with couples, transgender people, sex-workers, addictions protocols, working with Chem-Sex and in introducing art therapy. I have also worked for the African Emotional Support Team, offering advice, advocacy and counselling to African HIV+ clients. From this work I was asked to present trainings in ‘Working with Addictions from a Trauma Perspective’ for national charities, higher education colleges, psychotherapists, counsellors and counsellors in training. This arose from my experience as an HIV counsellor working within an integrated framework of attachment theory, trauma techniques and relational therapy which was effective in containing the complex needs of clients struggling with addictions.
I have co-facilitated an in-house group working with gay men and MSM identifying themselves as having addictions issues. Following from this, I have been employed to run a Mindfulness 8-week course that taught basic mindfulness techniques with an emphasis on self regulation and psychoeducation of the nervous system. I designed and facilitated a 4-week resilience program specifically for men struggling with attachment -based issues. This is suggested as a foundation to precede any addictions groups, hoping to give attendees resources that help to prevent relapse and the fetishising of drug use within addiction focussed groups. An art therapist and myself also designed an ‘Exploring Intimacy’ group for the same client group, based on the feedback from my Resilience group.
From 2012 to 2017 I worked for Sex Workers into Sexual Health (SWISH), offering counselling and group work in Kings Cross and East Croydon. Within this role I assessed and subsequently worked individually (10-12 sessions) with this ‘at risk’ demographic. The group work that I have offered was based on the work of Bessel van der Kolk; ‘Trauma Sensitive Yoga’ and offered ways of coming into new relationship with the body.
I worked as a (placement) Counsellor within the NHS CLCH IAPT primary care psychological health team at St Charles Hospital, Ladbroke Grove. My role involved working in a multi-disciplinary team of psychiatrists, psychologists, CBT therapists, psychotherapists, counsellors, wellbeing advisors and community outreach nurses in a stepped approach to care. I clinically assessed clients for referral within our service. I offered short term counselling contracts to clients of 6-10weeks.
I was invited to collaborate with Moving Pieces Therapeutic Theatre Company in presenting a sensation based model for working with trauma at the International Conference of Body Psychotherapists 2012 at Cambridge University.
Independently and as part of MindSprings, I taught weekend workshops and weekly courses in using yoga, mindfulness and experiential psychotherapy to assist in improving resilience through mind-body practices. I taught yoga privately and as part of the Special Yoga Centre, training and apprenticing as a Yoga Therapist (SYT) specialising in both disability and Mental Health. This work, often with non-verbal clients, gave me an experience of embodiment that enabled paced, respectful resonance to become possible with ‘unreachable’ clients. I worked with disabled adults and children both individually and in groups at residential centres, schools and a specialist yoga therapy centre within N.W. London as a yoga therapist. This entailed working with people on the autistic spectrum, with Down’s syndrome, cerebral palsy, personality disorders, depression, anxiety, schizophrenia and other conditions causing behavioural difficulties, cognitive impairment or psychological, social and physical difficulties.
Following my completion of the Minded Institute’s certification in Yoga for Mental Health, I worked with clients individually and began to facilitate groups called ‘Yoga Therapy for The Mind’ for adults with anxiety, depression and other stress related issues. As a consequence of my studies and work I was invited to teach mindful yoga for a Doctoral Research Project run by Assistant Professor Sat Bir Khalsa with Harvard Medical School and Roehampton University investigating Hatha yoga’s effect on anxiety and depression. I also wrote an article on practising yoga therapy with a blind and cognitively impaired child which was published in the International professional journal, Yoga Therapy Today.
I held an 18- month Counselling placement with Families without Fear, a Domestic Abuse project, where I worked one to one with survivors and co-facilitated 10 week groups.
I worked as a counsellor within a national sexual health charity from 2011 to 2017 and during this time I assessed and counselled clients affected by HIV. I received additional training in working with couples, transgender people, sex-workers, addictions protocols, working with Chem-Sex and in introducing art therapy. I have also worked for the African Emotional Support Team, offering advice, advocacy and counselling to African HIV+ clients. From this work I was asked to present trainings in ‘Working with Addictions from a Trauma Perspective’ for national charities, higher education colleges, psychotherapists, counsellors and counsellors in training. This arose from my experience as an HIV counsellor working within an integrated framework of attachment theory, trauma techniques and relational therapy which was effective in containing the complex needs of clients struggling with addictions.
I have co-facilitated an in-house group working with gay men and MSM identifying themselves as having addictions issues. Following from this, I have been employed to run a Mindfulness 8-week course that taught basic mindfulness techniques with an emphasis on self regulation and psychoeducation of the nervous system. I designed and facilitated a 4-week resilience program specifically for men struggling with attachment -based issues. This is suggested as a foundation to precede any addictions groups, hoping to give attendees resources that help to prevent relapse and the fetishising of drug use within addiction focussed groups. An art therapist and myself also designed an ‘Exploring Intimacy’ group for the same client group, based on the feedback from my Resilience group.
From 2012 to 2017 I worked for Sex Workers into Sexual Health (SWISH), offering counselling and group work in Kings Cross and East Croydon. Within this role I assessed and subsequently worked individually (10-12 sessions) with this ‘at risk’ demographic. The group work that I have offered was based on the work of Bessel van der Kolk; ‘Trauma Sensitive Yoga’ and offered ways of coming into new relationship with the body.
I worked as a (placement) Counsellor within the NHS CLCH IAPT primary care psychological health team at St Charles Hospital, Ladbroke Grove. My role involved working in a multi-disciplinary team of psychiatrists, psychologists, CBT therapists, psychotherapists, counsellors, wellbeing advisors and community outreach nurses in a stepped approach to care. I clinically assessed clients for referral within our service. I offered short term counselling contracts to clients of 6-10weeks.
I was invited to collaborate with Moving Pieces Therapeutic Theatre Company in presenting a sensation based model for working with trauma at the International Conference of Body Psychotherapists 2012 at Cambridge University.
Independently and as part of MindSprings, I taught weekend workshops and weekly courses in using yoga, mindfulness and experiential psychotherapy to assist in improving resilience through mind-body practices. I taught yoga privately and as part of the Special Yoga Centre, training and apprenticing as a Yoga Therapist (SYT) specialising in both disability and Mental Health. This work, often with non-verbal clients, gave me an experience of embodiment that enabled paced, respectful resonance to become possible with ‘unreachable’ clients. I worked with disabled adults and children both individually and in groups at residential centres, schools and a specialist yoga therapy centre within N.W. London as a yoga therapist. This entailed working with people on the autistic spectrum, with Down’s syndrome, cerebral palsy, personality disorders, depression, anxiety, schizophrenia and other conditions causing behavioural difficulties, cognitive impairment or psychological, social and physical difficulties.
Following my completion of the Minded Institute’s certification in Yoga for Mental Health, I worked with clients individually and began to facilitate groups called ‘Yoga Therapy for The Mind’ for adults with anxiety, depression and other stress related issues. As a consequence of my studies and work I was invited to teach mindful yoga for a Doctoral Research Project run by Assistant Professor Sat Bir Khalsa with Harvard Medical School and Roehampton University investigating Hatha yoga’s effect on anxiety and depression. I also wrote an article on practising yoga therapy with a blind and cognitively impaired child which was published in the International professional journal, Yoga Therapy Today.
I held an 18- month Counselling placement with Families without Fear, a Domestic Abuse project, where I worked one to one with survivors and co-facilitated 10 week groups.
