Following a BA in English language and literature, and having worked in an in and outpatient child psychiatry unit as an unqualified nurse for a couple of years in the late 70s, I was encouraged to put what drama skills I had to use with the children and families we had in our care. I was also encouraged to take some training and from this I became an early member of The British Association of Dramatherapists and subsequently took up registration with the Health and Care Professions Council.
I then worked freelance as a Dramatherapist in a wide variety of psychiatric and learning difficulty settings, and anywhere else that would have me, before taking on responsibility for the residential and group work elements of The New Careers Project, a specialist probation hostel in Bristol which offered young offenders an introduction to basic care and support work as an alternative to a further custodial sentence. I stayed there for four years.
On returning to freelance work, much of which was involved in the training of psychiatric nurses, I was also offering my own programme of training and therapeutic groups as DRAMAWORKS.
In 1988 I began training as a psychotherapist at The Institute of Psychotherapy and Social Studies with John Rowan and Giora Doron at a time when they were teaching both Humanistic and Psychoanalytic approaches in tandem. I graduated in 1995 and from this time work with individuals has been very much, but not exclusively, at the core of my practice.
I undertook further training in couples work with Jill Gabriel in 2004/5.
My own supervision is ongoing and a valued part of my continuing development as a worker.
I was a Full member of The UK Association of Humanistic Psychology Practitioners from 1989 and sometime chair until 2015, have been a member of The British Assn. of Dramatherapists since it's inception and have been registered as a psychotherapist with The United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy since 1998.
I have worked with all three professional organisations as an officer or board member, most recently as a member of the governing board of UKCP and Chair of it's, now defunct, Independent Complaints Organisation. I am currently the external moderator for one UKCP member organisations.
Fees:
I work a full clock hour.
For couples I charge £70.00 for sessions ending before 6PM and £80.00 thereafter.
For supervision I charge £70.00.
For the evening group for individuals the fee is £30.00 per session paid half termly in advance, and for the termly Saturday workshop £75.00.
For the evening couples' group the fee is £50.00 per session per couple paid half termly in advance.
The half termly fee is non-returnable.
For those not previously known to me there will be an initial interview for which the fee is £30.00/£50.00 which will be deducted from the first half term's fee if we agree that you will join the group.
Fees for bought-in workshops, teaching, or conference events are by negotiation.
Bristol