About me: qualifications, therapeutic perspective, background and ethics

Therapeutic qualifications

Postgraduate Diploma (Pg.Dip.)
in Counselling and Psychotherapy
(Univ. of Cumbria)

Master of Arts (M.A.)
in Counselling and Psychotherapy
(Univ. of Cumbria)

Therapeutic perspective

The core of my work is founded in my training as a person-centred therapist.  In my understanding the basis person-centred therapy can be expressed in three propositions:

1. Each person is their own most reliable guide – healing can occur and new perspectives arise insofar as the person is able to hear and trust their inner guidance.
2. The counsellor’s role is to provide a therapeutic environment within which the necessary self-trust and self-understanding can arise.
3. To achieve this the counsellor brings to interactions with the person qualities of respect, trust, empathy and deep attentiveness to experience.

The twin therapeutic ‘pillars’ therefore are trust in innate healing potential and the alliance between the two people, and these take precedence over techniques and theoretical constructs.

My therapeutic perspective is also nourished through long-term interest in the ideas of C. G. Jung, which are, in my understanding, essentially compatible with the person-centred approach.  To my reading, Jung’s perspective similarly emphasises trust in potential for growth and the primacy of the therapeutic relationship as the healing factor in therapeutic work.  Moreover, his ideas offer a rich perspective on human experience and how it can be the ground from which real healing and growth can come.

My background

Prior to turning to therapeutic work I had spent much of my career in and around academia.  My first degree in 'Transpersonal Psychology and Religion' and my Ph.D. in Religious Studies both reflect long-standing interests in the meeting places of psychotherapy and spiritual traditions.  On the psychotherapeutic side I have been especially interested in Jung, Assagioli (Psychosynthesis) and transpersonal psychologies; on the traditional side my interests have focused on the spiritual psychologies to be found in western esoteric traditions, Buddhism and Sufism.

Work within Sufi tradition has been particularly significant for me on a personal level, especially through the heart-opening communal practice known as the Dances of Universal Peace (I am a 'Certificated' teacher).  I see experiences of empathy, compassionate presence and mutual witnessing facilitated by the Dances as equivalent to the deep meetings that can happen in a therapeutic context.

Ethics and professional membership

I am not at present a member of a professional organisation.  However, I have previously been an associate member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) and continue to abide by the organisation's code of ethics which you can view here.  In particular I can assure you that matters spoken about in therapeutic sessions remain absolutely confidential.