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About Me
I am Consultant Psychologist working with adults, children, and families. My Integrative approach to wellbeing is based upon Counselling and Clinical psychology training, augmented by further training in variety of therapeutic approaches.
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I believe that wellbeing and resilience arises out of healthy relationships. Ideally, this develops within our primary caregiving relationships in childhood, but if these have included repeated or significant experiences of rupture, stress or trauma, children, adolescents or adults may require therapeutic experiences to support the later development of wellbeing and resilience.
My Work
I am very grateful to have the opportunity to live and work amidst the beauty of Cumbria. I am surrounded by a landscape and people that resource and support me in my parenting role as a mother of three thriving children, and as a Consultant Psychologist.
I provide psychological assessments and therapy for children, adults and families, both those who have experiences of Local Authority care and adoption, and also families and individuals who have not.
I also provide consultation and training to a wide range of professionals, with a focus upon parenting, resilience, wellbeing & the unconscious stories we live by.
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​My work primarily focuses upon emotional wellbeing or as my daughters might say:
‘living your best life.’
My work is trauma-informed and trauma-sensitive whilst being focussed upon personal growth and wellbeing.
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I use an integrative approach that is underpinned by a person-centred/child-centred perspective that validates the client’s experience. I combine this approach with a recognition of the power of the unconscious as the (backseat) driver of our thoughts, feelings and behaviours. Since much of our unconscious remains in the shadow (unavailable to our conscious awareness) I believe that developing our reflective capacity and empathic understanding of our unconscious process is key to wellbeing.
Increased awareness, of our shadow, is best supported by a trauma-sensitive integrative approach that is informed by a biopsychosocial perspective of health and wellbeing.
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Personal development can occur through journaling, mindfulness and other personal practices, however, it is ideally done in relationship, either with a skilled friend or a professional who is trauma-sensitive and one who understands unconscious dynamics and defences. This is even more important for people who may have a history of trauma experiences.
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Wellbeing, resilience and emotional intelligence occur through attuned relationships, similarly, trauma recovery occurs through attuned and reparative relationships.
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A key concept in my work is the idea of an embodied mind that is shaped by our environment, and in particular our relationships with our primary caregivers (typically our parents), our culture and our peers. We are shaped by relationships and shaped by the storied world that we live in.
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Since the early 90’s I have been developing my expertise in the field of Wellbeing, Parenting, Relational Wellbeing, and Developmental Trauma & Dissociation. I use an integrative psychological approach that is informed by six years of doctoral training in both clinical and counselling psychology, and augmented by training in creative approaches, storytelling, mindfulness, relaxation and somatic movement & wellbeing.
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​The stories that we ‘take in’ shape the stories that we tell about ourselves, and the stories we tell are the stories we live by.
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Please note, whilst I welcome enquiries, I have a waiting list that averages 6 months to a year. You can find other registered practitioners via the HCPC, BPS, UKCP and BACP.