About Me

My first training was as a Registered General Nurse in Belfast and then as a Registered Midwife in Edinburgh. I studied Psychology and Counselling at Teesside University as a mature student and then completed my Doctorate in Counselling Psychology. During my time on the Doctorate training I was introduced to Group Analysis and commenced training with the Group Analysis North in Manchester on completion of the Doctorate. My psychotherapy practice has been enriched by my nursing and midwifery experiences. The mind and body are deeply connected.

I have worked within the Healthcare system in Northern Ireland as a Nurse, in Scotland and England as a Midwife, and for the last 10 years I worked in a Specialist Tertiary NHS psychotherapy service in the North East of England as a Highly Specialist Applied Psychologist and Group Analyst. I continue to work in the same NHS mental health trust two days a week providing staff reflective practice groups to a variety of teams.

I have a special interest in working with people from Northern Ireland specifically and more generally from the Island of Ireland. I left Northern Ireland in 1988 to travel and live in other places. The impact of the ‘troubles’ still reverberates within the Island of Ireland. As my practice is online I am now able to facilitate this and I am very open to enquiries from the Island of Ireland wherever you are in the world.

I have particularly enjoyed working with Doctors’ in Distress running support groups for Intensive Care staff during the first and second lockdowns, supporting staff with long-covid and more recently peer support groups (9 sessions) for Nurses with overseas heritages. I have been able to do short-term work with NHS staff in Bradford through the Resilience hub. My next project is to work with ICAP, a charity offering counselling and psychotherapy mainly to the Irish community in Britain. ICAP provides accessible, culturally sensitive counselling and psychotherapy in a secure, confidential environment.

Continuing Professional Development

I enjoy keeping my professional practice up to date through reading, supervision and attending courses. I am definitely a keen experiential learner. I have been studying ‘Creating Large Group Dialogue in Organisations and Society’ for three years with Teresa von Sommaruga Howard. The bimonthly workshops with international colleagues have been both a privilege and a deeply moving experience. I hope to develop a project in Belfast, Northern Ireland around the ‘peace walls’ to help both communities feel safer together in the absence of these barriers when they are decommissioned in 2023

Clinical Experience

I am an accomplished Group Analyst and a Trauma-informed Psychodynamic Psychotherapist offering a variety of interventions including individual, couple, and group psychotherapy, work-related reflective practice groups, staff supervision groups and specialized support groups for frontline keyworkers and other staff with work-related dilemmas. I work in a sensitive manner, listening carefully to ‘what has happened’, holding the painful feelings and offering hope as we plan together ‘what is needed’. I have gained a vast experience of working with clients with complex mental health and physical needs whilst working in a Specialist Psychotherapy Service within the NHS for 10 years. My interest in somatic symptoms arises from working as a Registered General Nurse and Midwife bringing together the mind and the body.

Values

I value and practice the principles of honesty, fairness, integrity, and equality; whilst embracing culture and diversity in my personal and professional work. Clinically, I work in a sensitive manner, listening carefully to ‘what has happened’, holding the painful feelings and offering hope as we make a plan together for ‘what is needed’ therapeutically. I believe that quality care extends beyond the techniques of psychological interventions to best practice approaches. The adage that ‘One size does not fit all’ is so true in psychotherapy, each therapeutic journey is unique. My style is conversational and non-judgemental. I believe that honesty, kindness and compassion are essential in developing a trusted therapeutic interpersonal working relationship. I have proven success with positive psychometric outcomes and continue to update my practice through continuous professional development training.

Special interest in working with people from Northern Ireland

I grew up in Northern Ireland during the ‘Troubles’, qualifying as a Registered General Nurse in 1984 and moving to Edinburgh (Scotland) in 1986 to train as a Midwife. Physical and mental well-being go hand in hand. Our personal life experiences are so important and I am always fascinated in learning how our family histories, migration and transgenerational traumas influence our life choices both personally and professionally.

After taking a career break to raise my family, I completed the doctorate in Counselling Psychology at the University of Teesside in 2009. I qualified as a Group Analyst in 2016 from Group Analysis North in Manchester and have enjoyed working as a Group Analyst and Individual Psychodynamic therapist in the NHS since 2011.