Mental health and wellbeing have been my lifelong focal area of work but I have also been a tour guide, a cleaner, a shop assistant, a manager, a teacher of Norwegian, and a painter. Growing up in both Norway and England I spoke both languages, leading to questions of identity, belonging, language, reality and meaningfulness. This led to studying psychology and philosophy at university, and working in mental health and homelessness. I spent many years in the NHS as a counsellor and CBT therapist, seeing individuals and groups for help with anxiety, depression, stress, self esteem and managing emotions. I also spent several years working with homeless men with complex needs, suffering from the aftermath of childhood abuse and neglect, addiction, war and displacement. Since qualifying as a psychotherapeutic counsellor with Re-Vision in London in 2017 I have worked in private practice.
Psychotherapy in its original Greek means ‘care of the soul’. ‘What is soul?’ you may ask. Working in a soulful way means giving a place to the search for meaning and purpose. We often feel ashamed of the symptoms of psychological distress. But what if our dysfunctions, fears, addictions and other psychological problems are trying to tell us what our deeper needs are? Perhaps it is just our soul trying to find its way in the world, to make sense of life. My experience is that this is a kinder way of thinking about ourselves, and a more fruitful approach to resolving our difficulties. See My approach to find out what this means in practice.
Qualifications
- Diploma in Integrative Transpersonal Counselling – Re-Vision 2017
- Postgraduate Certificate in Evidence-based Psychological Practice – Exeter University 2014
- Postgraduate Certificate in Counselling skills – University of Wales Newport 2011
- MSc Organisational Psychology – Birkbeck College London 2004
- BA(Hons) Psychology & Philosophy – Oxford University 1986