I started my working life in Primary Education and Community Arts as a dance instructor and facilitator working with children and young people. I loved seeing the confidence and self esteem grow in young people as a result of being given the space to move their bodies with encouragement to express themselves, individually and within group work. When I think back on this time, I can think of so many young people who did well in this type of space. They may have struggled in the classroom, had extra energy they needed to burn or had stuff going on in life that they needed a break from.

It was from here that I went on maternity leave. Once both of my children had started school I decided to retrain as a psychotherapist. Therapy had helped me personally and I wanted to be able to provide the same type of space offered to me. I trained in Transactional Analysis and while this remains my main modality, I offer creative and neuro-informed practice too.

Throughout life and alongside my career I have always been into art. I love to paint and craft and wanted to develop this alongside the therapy work I do. Taking time to be creative is important for me personally and more than sharing techniques and just teaching people art, I wanted to offer opportunities of personal understanding and expression. This has emerged into two ways of working; individual counselling and psycotherapy, which is a confidential clinical service, alongside creative workshops and programmes that are psychoeducational and wellbeing focussed rather than therapy.

An important consideration for me is neurodivergence. While I work with all different groups of people, I have vast personal and professional experience working with neurodivergent people, particularly those with ASD & ADHD. I have also spent time with children who are out of education for many reasons; emotionally based school avoidance, difficulties with emotional regulation, going through health challenges and so much more. Much like the young people I used to facilitate dance with, art offers a space to be busy with hands, to express frustrations and help calm the nervous system.

I have sought additional training and supervision in working with play and creativity to further support both adults and young people that I meet, with the aim to reduce barriers to both therapy and creativity so that people can access support without having to constantly overadapt or miss out entirely.