MY PRACTICE AND APPROACH

Because everyone is different and has different needs, as an Integrative practitioner I am able to use a variety of approaches in order to work with the individual. I do not particularly favour any approach over another so work from a person-centred base and utilise Compassion Focused Therapy, existential theory, Transactional Analysis and CBT approaches. I have been trained in Mindfulness and use that frequently in my sessions as well as in regular personal practice. I look to fit the therapy I use to the person, rather than the other way around.

I have experience working with people presenting with trauma, anxiety, low mood, PTSD, OCD, substance misuse problems, sexual abuse, physical abuse and worked with many Personality Disordered offenders. I also work with couples.

QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE
I am a Senior Accredited Integrative Counsellor/Psychotherapist and I qualified in 2003 with an Advanced Diploma in Integrative Counselling and Therapy (Psychology and Practice).

I worked in private practice and for various counselling services when I was living in East Sussex; with adolescents, survivors of sexual abuse and also in Lewes prison. I was inspired and moved by my prison experience and decided that was the direction in which I wished to develop my work so, when I moved up to Lancaster in 2006, I obtained a job in the NHS, firstly in the community, then in HMP Haverigg. I also worked for three years at First Step, which is the Cumbrian IAPT (Improving Access to Psychological Therapies) service.

I worked as a counsellor/psychotherapist for the NHS for over 15 years and was the Primary Mental Health Team manager in HMP Haverigg, overseeing the daily functioning of the team and providing clinical supervision to the staff, as well as providing mental health training for prison staff.

I was appointed Therapy Services Manager for Survivors Manchester for two years, in which role I helped set up and run trauma therapy services in 6 prisons across the north west of England.

I left that role when I retired from full-time employment and now work here at Dacrelands and also for the Birchall Trust in Cumbria and Lancashire a few days per week.

I am a BACP registered Senior Accredited Counsellor/Psychotherapist (mem. no. 545029).

I have been practising tai chi for over 40 years and used to teach it in London. My ‘previous life’ was as a professional musician, allowing me for over thirty years to travel the world.

WHAT I AIM TO ACHIEVE IN MY PRACTICE

I aim to develop a strong therapeutic alliance with my clients as a basis of any work we might do. I then utilise whatever approach fits with the needs of the client and as a consequence of my clinical formulation.

I look to explore a client’s way of thinking and feeling that can lead to dysfunctional patterns of behaviour or a sense of dis-ease in their daily life.

https://www.dacrelands.co.uk

07795 464693

eelsitrap@yahoo.co.uk

www.bacp.co.uk