...and why it is that some people are able to sail through life and knowingly or unknowingly able achieve their potential, while for others, it’s an uphill challenge and progressive journey.
This may be measured from a number of perspectives from say financial success or from looking more holistically at body, mind and spirit and healing toward wholeness. Either way, for some the road is fairly level while for others there’s an upward path.
Two very different threads of measure perhaps, but nonetheless a reflection of how I engaged with daily life for much of my professional career, with a steady incline throughout.
For many years I worked in the business and finance sector assisting people with their personal financial affairs, but in addition to this I also found a deeper and more meaningful purpose by helping individuals through the lens of complementary medicine and seeing how subtle energy could influence and improve health through the human energy field as a reflection of the human body. Working from the outside in, rather than from within the body as traditional medicine tends to do.
Healing towards wholeness has and remains a passion for me and for number of years I practiced as a subtle energy or faith healer using vibrational tools ranging from colour and sound to crystals. I studied during the 1990s in London for a diploma at the International College of Crystal Healing for 2 years and then later undertaking further advanced studies at the Vibrational Healing Foundation, also based in London.
While clients often reported finding healing sessions helpful, they also expressed a desire to discuss and explore their subsequent experiences, reporting body, mind and feeling sensations (some peak and others not) which had surfaced from the unconscious. They wished to know how these could be processed and made meaning of. At that point I realised I needed to refer these clients on to other professionals who engaged in talking therapies so their presenting issues could be counselled.
So for me, while I was able to play valuable part in the clients’ personal journey as a healer, it was not sufficient in itself to guide the client and work with them as part of their self-development and unfolding process, whether this was for short term symptom relief or for a longer staged journey toward reaching their potential and wellbeing.
In 2015 I took the decision to retrain as a counsellor at the Psychosynthesis Trust in London, an accredited BACP course awarded by Middlesex University. I wished to play a more responsive and involved part in clients’ personal growth, development and healing and for me this was the way forward. I finally obtained a post graduate diploma in integrative psychosynthesis counselling at the end of May 2019.
The Psychosynthesis Course, while centred on the psychology and orientation founded by Roberto Assagioli (1888 - 1974) also introduced other modalities and studies of human nature and paid attention to what have historically become known as the “4 forces of psychological development” which are: Analytic, Cognitive / Behavioural, Humanistic and Transpersonal.
Since graduating from the Psychosynthesis Trust I have undertaken clinical work as a qualified counsellor, therapist.
I am also undertaking further training with the Trust, through an integrative supervisor training.
I work from my home in Chilton and Newbury street, Wantage, Oxon.
My approach is adaptive to clinical need, while always holding the ethical framework and guidelines of the professional body to which I belong: the BACP.
My interest in people and groups has also taken me to the Institute of Group Analysis (IGA) in Oxford, where I undertook a years foundation course in group analysis, which laid the foundations for group therapy sessions which I hope to be able to offer in the future.
This course was particularly useful, as from November 2021, my work expanded with a business partner, to offer training to others who are drawn by this type of work, by offering a range of courses from a certificate in counselling skills to a full 3 year course in psychotherapeutic counselling to diploma level. The company, Mercure Counselling & Training Alliance (CIC) is a Community Interest Company(CIC), set up to provide training to people who are drawn to this type of work at a time when Mental Health pressures on the NHS and other organisations are at an all time high!
Visiting my website may already mean you have made the decision to take the next step forward... so I would be very pleased to hear from you by phone or email and would be very happy to have an initial conversation or meet with you to explore whether we can work together and if I can offer the support and help you’re looking for.
My counselling service is on an individual basis for adults and young adults (16+) and can be: on a personal, face to face basis at either Wantage or Chilton Village (including walk and talk therapy sessions from my home location); or by, video link, mobile or landline phone by mutual agreement.