I have a BSc from Boston University in Special Education with a minor in Psychology, an MA and a PhD in Clinical Psychology from California School of Professional Psychology – San Diego, a post-graduate diploma in forensic medicine and science from the Society of Apothecaries, a certificate in whole person coaching (two year course) from Coach Training World, and am an accredited advanced GSRD therapist from Pink Therapy.

I am registered with the HCPC, a member of ICF and am an Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society. I adhere to the code of ethics for the British Psychological Society.

I have advanced training in the treatment of trauma including using Metapsychology and Traumatic Incident Reduction (I co-authored a book on this HERE), and advanced training in Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR).

I engage in regular continuing professional development and have professional supervision. I have professional liability insurance. A copy of my full CV is available upon request (It is a long document).

I am both. Coaching tends to look at the present and the future, is often action oriented and looks to make sure that the client has the skills they need to manifest the life they desire (including to resolve difficulties along the way). Therapy tends to look more at helping people to resolve things from the past so that they can both better understand how they got here and move forward into a future that is one that they are choosing instead of one that is hampered by triggers, outmoded ideas and beliefs from the past.

I use therapy when appropriate and coaching when appropriate. I explain to clients what I am choosing to do and why and often discuss various methods and techniques with them.  I am pragmatic which means I use what I think will work best for each individual client.

Above all, I am pragmatic which means I use what I think will work best for any given client. At heart, I am existential and one of my largest influences is Irvin Yalom. He is known for being present as a human being in his sessions with his clients, for integrating some philosophy into psychotherapy which is called psychosophy. My training included existential psychotherapy (and a supervisor who was existential), group therapy, Jungian therapy, systemic family therapy, and cognitive therapy. I am non-judgmental and directive. I think it important to provide some structure in therapy and hold the space so the client can go where they need to go and not have to keep track of the time and the space.

I have specific advanced training in the treatment of trauma and use Traumatic Incident Reduction and EMDR most often.

This depends upon what we are doing. I work intensively with some people which involves working for a full day or over a few days to a week and then revisiting issues a month later. Working intensively allows a person to shut out the outside world so that they can focus on the issues without the world triggering new issues each week. Intensive work is very effective when working with trauma.

I work with people weekly, twice per week and fortnightly. I don’t like to work with people less often as momentum gets lost so everything takes a lot longer. The exception to this is when I have a client doing lots of experiments in the world and they need time to be able to try things out.

With my subscription clients, the amount of time per week we spend depends upon the things they are working on. We spend time working on transforming their lives, resolving issues from the past, creating goals for the future with an emphasis on larger goals, building the skills, plans to reach these goals and engaging in the activities that facilitate the transformation.

I do not use a 50 minute hour. My sessions are either an hour, 90 minutes, two hours or unfixed in time. Unfixed sessions are ones in which we work until we reach a good place to stop the session – a place where something has been resolved or understood, where a person is feeling at least neutral and where their attention has moved back into the world (and outside of their heads and emotions). I set aside 2 to 3 hours when I plan a session like this and I charge for the time we use not the time I set aside.

This depends upon what we are doing. However, I am known to be straightforward and sometimes people say I am blunt. I tend to give homework for coaching clients and sometimes for therapy clients.