Celebrating
Connection
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Many of the people I work with are looking for connection, understanding and positive change. Whether you experience low mood and negative thoughts, have a history of trauma, or need to develop new coping strategies, overcoming obstacles to wellbeing often starts by developing positive interpersonal relationships and learning the value of being kind to yourself.
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You know that feeling when someone just gets you?
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Well... with a grounding in humanistic therapy, that is what I aim to offer you; a genuine therapeutic
relationship founded in acceptance and truly accurate empathy. As an accredited Interpersonal Psychotherapy therapist, supervisor and trainer I bring together the necessary skills and personal qualities to provide evidence based therapy with a compassionate, relaxed, approachable style to support you with positive change. If you would like to know more, contact me for an initial informal conversation and find out whether I fit your bill. It costs nothing to ask the question.
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Common issues that people bring to therapy include:
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Depression and Mood Disorders
Negative or Dark Thoughts
Anxiety
Relationship Difficulties
Life or Role Transitions
Grief, Loss or Bereavement
Loneliness
Trauma
Difficulties with Self-Esteem
Self-harming
Stress Management
Health Concerns or Bodily Sensations Such as Fatigue or Pain
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whilst your experiences are unique to you, you are not alone
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Personal bio
My Life, Loves and Leisures
After spending much of my life in the English countryside of rural Shropshire, in 2002 my husband two daughters and I made the bold decision to move to the beautiful Canterbury Plains of New Zealand. Keeping life balanced is such an important part of maintaining wellbeing, and for me living a rural life, family walks, working in the veggie garden, tending to my bees, or chatting to a good friend as the pony and carriage winds through the countryside are my ways to be in the moment.
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Our lifestyle here has in the main been a relaxed one, but it has also been punctuated with the life appreciating experiences of the earthquakes, sustained drought and the tragedy of the Mosque shootings. In sharing adversity, my family have been drawn closer to the communities of Christchurch and North Canterbury. Each of us in our own way has been privileged to be part of the support and recovery process both for ourselves and the people we have grown to love. We continue to embrace New Zealand life and the chilled kiwi culture, here is our home.Â
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Education, Work-life and Driving Passions
Starting in the world of business and teaching I enjoyed working with students, but came to realise my true interest lay in working with people on a deeper level, understanding the complexities of the human mind and interpersonal relationships, and supporting people to find their own way.
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With that in mind I trained as a psychiatric nurse at The Royal Shrewsbury College. It was here I learnt the joy of the therapeutic relationship and began extending my training in a number of psychological modalities including Rogerian Client Centred Therapy, Gestalt Therapy, Milan Family Therapy, Moreno Psychodrama and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. I continued my journey as a therapist with Dr Marion Metcalfe as my mentor. Alongside Marion I worked both
in the NHS and in private practice as a humanistic therapist and supervisor, and also in a voluntary capacity to introduce a counselling service for MIND Shropshire.
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Since moving to New Zealand I studied Interpersonal Psychotherapy through Otago University and after completing my masters I became an accredited therapist, trainer and supervisor with the International Society for Interpersonal Psychotherapy and a clinical tutor for Interpersonal Psychotherapy at Otago University's School of Psychological Medicine.
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Never being one to sit on my laurels, I have also enjoyed extending my range of psychotherapeutic interventions by training in Motivational Interviewing, Non-Violent Communication, Critical Incident Stress Management and more recently EMDR for trauma in adults, groups and children. Training in EMDR extended me the privilege of supporting people who have been affected by devastating and traumatic events of the Mosque shootings.Â
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Much of my work in New Zealand has been with the DHB's Rural Mental Health team. I loved working in the rural community with clients and their families, and developing supportive relationships with rural GP's, schools and networks of community organisations who provide so many valuable services. Later I joined the Child, Adolescent and Family Specialist Mental Health Service in North Canterbury where I continued to offer Interpersonal Psychotherapy and to teach. Teaching has been my complimentary discipline and over the years I have enjoyed providing presentations and workshops the field of mental health and alcohol and drug services for the CDHB, ARA, MHREC and a number of NGOs across the sector.Â
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I am delighted to have reopened my private practice, which had been suspended after the quakes. Therapy Services has moved to Percival on the Park, on a quiet leafy street in Rangiora, enabling me to offer therapeutic services in North Canterbury, a place where my heart lies. Â Â
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Now that you know something of me, I would love get you know you, working together to inspire your own goals for change