Prior to becoming a psychotherapist my previous career was in education which started in the early 80's working for a college of further education in Hong Kong.  On returning back to the UK I became the owner and principal of a private nursery school catering for children aged 3 months to 5 years; a business I owned and ran for ten years.

 

When I embarked on my psychotherapy training I was particularly keen to pursue my interest in forensic work and so I worked for five years as a psychodynamic psychotherapist in a prison setting at HMP Holloway, London.

 

After qualification I opened my private practice and also returned to the field of education, running and managing counselling courses for a charity organisation called the Counselling Foundation based in St Albans, UK, where I held the position of Head of Training and also lectured for twelve years. Since 2012 when I qualified as a psychodynamic supervisor I have been providing group and individual supervision to both qualified clinicians and counsellors in training.  In 2014 I took up two lectureships, one at Birkbeck College, University of London as an Associate Lecturer and also at Regent's University as a Visiting Lecturer.  In 2017 I obtained a Masters degree entitled 'Working with children, young people & families: a psychoanalytic observational approach' from the Tavistock Clinic London validated by the University of East London. 

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My specialist clinical interests include infant-parent bonding, ruptures and repairs in childhood, separation and individuation of the individual, depression and anxiety, somatisation disorders, cultural perspectives, the individual in the group, neuroscience and, the impact of childhood trauma on adult mental states.  I have considerable experience in working with issues related to oppression (e.g., racism, homophobia, sexism), and personal experience of ethnic discrimination, cultural adjustment, and biculturalism.  

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Media Work:

I have worked as a consultant psychotherapist assessing contestants for the BBC 3 television series entitled:  'Young, Dumb & Living off Mum'.