“I love listening to people and helping
them make sense of their lives.”

In my career in the NHS, I worked with a range of adult mental health difficulties, including problems such as anxiety, phobias, obsessive-compulsive disorder, depression, health anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder.  I also worked in a health psychology setting where people were struggling with chronic pain and gastroenterological conditions.

I was part of a Community Mental Health Team for many years in both a rural team, and in a diverse city and worked with those with severe and enduring mental health difficulties including diagnoses of personality disorder and complex trauma presentations. 

I also worked with Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, helping people who have suffered sexual, physical and emotional abuse, may have been victims of chronic domestic violence or torture.  Areas of specialism included military veterans and refugees and asylum seekers. 

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Moving on from the NHS

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After almost 20 years working in the NHS as a Clinical Psychologist specialising in complex trauma, I took a change of direction, so I could bring what I had learnt to a cultural level and a different client group.

Systemic theory has always appealed to me and I’ve trained in Family Therapy and Group Analysis knowing intuitively that working only with an individual wasn’t enough. We’re a social species and hugely influenced by context and environment.

My favourite approach is Compassion Focused Therapy. Great for individuals, but better in groups. I've applied the Compassion Focused model to Coaching and Leadership settings. It's incredibly well received in corporate, health, law and university settings because it makes so much sense. The models are easy to grasp and it gives people a sense of great insight and relief. Cultivating a compassionate mind helps people unlock their potential.

Change is never straightforward, and blocks to change are always there. My curiosity and fascination with people, as well as the skills, techniques and knowledge that I have, mean that we will always work out and understand what’s going on.

Recently, I've become a voice dialogue facilitator which brings a depth to people’s understanding of themselves like nothing else. It's a joy to go on a joint discovery with clients in finding out what their different selves might think about a decision or life event they’re in the thick of.

I've amalgamated my previous company Ubuntu Psychology Ltd with Indigo. But will bring the African philosophy of Ubuntu with me. A person is only a person through other people. In leadership, people are empowered by other people, we become our best selves through unselfish interaction with others.