I'm a qualified, experienced and BACP Accredited counsellor who works with women dealing with gender specific issues concerned with loss, separation, living apart from children, painful childhood histories, relationships, co-dependency, personal and professional fulfilment and work-life balance. In addition to working in private practice, I've also held positions as a work place counsellor and supervisor.
I hold an Institute of Personnel and Development Certificate in Training Practice. Over the past seven years, I've developed and delivered a wide variety of women's personal, professional and business development training workshops for organisations such as Everywoman Ltd and Business Link East.
I specialise in supporting women
Becoming aware of the growing burden on women to manage successful home and work lives simultaneously, I studied the subject further by completing a master's degree in Policy Studies during which I focused on social policy that impacts on women, the role of motherhood, employment and work-life balance initiatives. It's the pressure of having to be it all, to do it all and have it all from those around us - including the media and those who govern us, who dictate the norm - together with the Superwoman expectations we have of ourselves that I help women to unravel, whether I'm working in my role as women's professional and personal group facilitator or one to one.
I am the author of ‘A Mother Apart: how to let go of guilt and find happiness living apart from your child’, published by Crown House Publishing, available from Amazon
I wrote A Mother Apart because when I was newly separated from my child and was desperate for a non-judgemental, understanding self-help book on how to cope living apart from my child and there wasn't one! As a long-standing mother apart who has also helped others manage their situation, you'll find plenty of experience tips and above all, hope in the book. I have over twenty years of insight and knowledge to share with other mothers apart.
I am also...
Co-chair of the charity MATCH (Mothers Apart from Their Children) www.matchmothers.org
Part-time training manager for charity supporting individuals and families affected by adoption
A little bit more about me
Born in Kent, England, I grew up in South Africa and returned to England in 1988. I have two grown up children and a granddaughter.
Life outside of work is important to me. I enjoy time with my partner who is an ecologist, walking in the woods, scrambling up mountains, observing nature, making jam, keeping chooks, reading, writing, a number of arts and crafts and Tai Chi.
