There are three main facets to my work life - counselling, training and writing, linked by a common theme - my interest in people : facilitating their growth and development, supporting them to lead more fulfilling lives.
I'm a qualified and experienced 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 am a member of The British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) and I abide by their Code of Ethics and Practice.
I also work as a women's professional and personal group facilitator and trainer, combining my counselling experience with management and business knowledge to develop training workshops to help women business owners, leaders and managers work in more confidently and creatively and above all, in ways that are congruent with their true nature.
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.
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'm a writer. My first book, A Mother Apart: how to let go of guilt and find happiness living apart from you child, published by Crown House Publishing, is available from Amazon.
As a mother who has lived apart from her daughter growing up in another country, I have a deep understanding of the experiences and feelings of mothers in similar situations. Having worked hard to find ways of maintaining and developing my relationship with my daughter while at the same time continuing to live my life fully. I have twenty years of insight and knowledge to share with other mothers apart.
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 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.
My next book - a guide for working women - is in the pipeline.
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 children, a daughter who is 24, a son of 21 and a little granddaughter who is two years old.
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, cooking, reading, writing, a number of arts and crafts and Tai Chi.
