About Me
Qualifications, Professional Membership and Experience
I have been counselling clients since 1999, working with a broad range of issues. I am qualified with a degree and professional diploma in counselling and did my training at the Metanoia Institute, Ealing - a well established training provider in various humanistic approaches. I am also an accredited member of my professional body, the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP).
I have a certificate in psychosexual counselling and a
diploma in supervision through Cascade Training Associates, accredited by
ABC.
In addition to working in private practice I am Director of the Ealing counselling charity EACS.
If you cannot afford private therapy, EACS offers low cost counselling provided
by trainees who work on a voluntary basis.
Counselling, Psychotherapy and My Approach
In many ways the terms counselling and psychotherapy are interchangeable as there is considerable overlap and both involve talking through issues of concern to you. In general, 'counselling' relates to shorter term work and 'psychotherapy' to longer, more in depth work. In counselling, I may be helping you work through a difficult situation in your life and enabling you to find a way forward. In psychotherapy, I may be helping you to get to grips with issues which have been around for a long time, which may be confusing or complex, and which are affecting the quality of your life and relationships.
Ultimately, whatever issues you bring, the breadth and
depth of the work we do together will depend on you; I will help you to identify
what is useful to you as we go along and then tailor the work accordingly.
My main theoretical background is Transactional Analysis
(TA) although I incorporate other approaches such as Cognitive
Behavioural Therapy (CBT), depending on what issues you
bring. TA offers a useful way of helping people
understand difficulties in their interactions with others and
also in how they relate to themselves. I will share TA and other
concepts with you where I think this will be helpful, but for much of
the time the sessions will involve you bringing the issues that are
troubling you and me facilitating you, without direct reference to a
theoretical model.