About Me
It makes sense to be curious about the personhood of the therapist you are going to see as you might have questions or worries about whether we might be a good fit or whether you see me as someone who you can trust enough to explore painful or difficult themes. The space we create will of course be about you and your experience but my intention is to bring my full self to our relationship drawing on my lived experiences and stories as well a my professional training and modality.
The professional self:
I have worked in the NHS for 10 years and originally trained as an Occupational Therapist. I have worked in a range of inpatient and community settings with both adults and children and my training as a psychotherapist equips me to work across the lifespan. For the past 5 years I have worked in Child and Adolescent Mental Health services (CAMHS) in Cambridge and my substantive work context remains this and I work as a Family and Systemic Psychotherapist. I meet with individuals, families and caring systems as part of my role. I continue to bring my Occupational Therapy skills into my work, using creativity and play in sessions particularly with children and young people but also with adults as it is never to late and nor are we too old to play!
I have trained in a number of different therapeutic modalities so I am able to offer those I work with options about what might suit best. You might want a space which is structured and directive or perhaps more reflective and exploratory (or maybe even both) and we can carefully think about how to interweave what you need or want into our space together. I have specific training in DBT skills, sensory integration and have significant experience of working with individuals with complex needs. My particular strength is working with people who may find it hard to trust or access help because of their lived experience.
My research interests are broad and I am actively involved in the research community. I am particularly interested in attachment, trauma and sibling relationships. I am more aligned with ideas around formulation (building a picture of why you/your family/carers experience the things you do) than pathology and diagnosis however, there is a definite role for this in affirming and validating symptoms you might be experiencing and I can offer a space in which we develop a shared language of your experience. I can support formal confirmation of symptoms through diagnostic assessments if this is what you would like.
I am professionally and personally very passionate about the importance of resisting heteronormative ideas about families and relationships and position myself as being a very liberal, accepting and accommodating therapist in this context. You may however be unsure about your own thoughts feelings and judgements around relationships or the shifts and changes in the world around us, we can navigate this thoughtfully together attending to any tensions or conflict you may experience.
The Personal self:
One of the key differences in Family and Systemic Psychotherapy training is the active interest and use of the personal and lived experience of the therapist. Aspects of sameness and difference are punctuated as being areas to be curious about as invitations to explore broader ideas you may be grappling with.
My family of origin is British, Scottish and German influenced and my roots are in the midlands but I settled in Cambridgeshire 4 years ago which is now where I call home. I have a particular interest in how culture, race and gender influence our relationships with each other and the world informing our scripts for navigating the multiple contexts we exist within. As with most people I hold many different life roles. I am a sister, a daughter, a friend, a therapist, an activist, a yogi, a dog lover and have an appreciation for nature and ecology. I love art and being creative.
