heart mind spirit

In this section I try to give you a flavour of the range of therapeutic activities from which I have benefited over the years to help you decide whether you want to see me.

I was raised in  Cornwall and Devon and went to school in Exeter.  I went to University in Liverpool, studying Psychology and Theology but did not complete my degree as I became involved in the politics of drugs and counter-culture. Following a stretch in the wilderness after University I emerged into a succession of jobs before realising that my path lay in therapy. I have been a milkman, worked in retailing carpets and even been a silk salesman. I believe that a broad experience of life outside the ivory towers of academia is a pre-requisite for depth psychotherapy.
I write fiction and poetry as well as therapy articles. I live on a houseboat on the Thames, am separated and have two daughters. In my spare time I enjoy Argentinian tango, choral singing and assisting on large commercial pyrotechnic displays .

Formal qualifications and Continuing Professional Development (CPD)

I first qualified as a Counsellor in 1988 with Diploma (Distinction) in Counselling and Supervision from Roehampton Institute for Higher Education.

I was already working as a volunteer counsellor for Hounslow Youth Counselling Service and shortly thereafter joined West Thames College as Student Welfare Advisor and then Student  Counsellor

During this time I completed three contracts working for the Staff Counselling Service at London Borough of Hounslow counselling staff on a wide range of issues.

I undertook further supervision training with the, then, Centre for Staff Team Development (now Centre for Supervision & Team Development) and received their certificate in Individual, Group, Therapeutic & Advanced Supervision.

Whilst at WTC I worked as a counselling trainer for the Central School of Counselling and Therapy (CSCT).

I became approved by Metanoia Institute to supervise their trainees on the Person-Centred Diploma/Degree courses.

During these years I undertook dozens of CPD modules, too numerous to mention individually but which included Cross-cultural work, Art therapy, EMDR, NLP, MBTI etc etc as well as reading extensively around the various schools of therapy.

I also actively participated in many professional conferences including the Association for University and College Counselling (co-managing their list-serve base) and helping organise the second U.K. conference for the British Association for the Person-Centred Approach (BAPCA).

Having published articles in the Association of University and College Counsellors (AUCC) journal, Self and Society and in the BACP journal (now Therapy Today) I was flattered to be invited to write BACP's Information Sheet (G8) 'Counsellng Asylum Seekers and Refugees' which you can see here.

I have succesfully completed my MA in Psychotherapy and Healing (Society for Psychology & Healing validated by Middlesex University) writing my dissertation on Jung and Shamanism. A recent update to my supervision qualifications resulted in a paper in Self and Society (see link in the blog)

 Activities have included working for the NHS, consultancy for BA Crewcare and supervising for local authoprities and assessing Metanoia Person-centred undergraduates. I am also an approved therapist for the re.vision training

I addition I have trained in Advanced Integrative Therapy (see links for Seemorg Matrix). This work involves using muscle testing and chakras to heal trauma. I can vouch for it's safety and effectiveness.

My currently CPD is focused almost entirely on the rapid development in Psychedelic Assisted Psychotherapy

Most of the trainings that I have attended over the last 20 years or so have included large elements of experiential work e.g during initial training we were exposed to on-going group encounter sessions.

After completing my training I initially attended therapy with a male NLP/Rogerian therapist which, though not particularly deep, was extremely useful in healing some wounds.
I then attended group therapy, briefly, with the late Petruska Clarkson  but did not feel that it was right for me at the time.
This was followed by a year in Analytic Psychotherapy with the Jungian analyst Prof. Andrew Samuels which was a revelation.
Since then I have seen two female therapists, the second for over four years. For the last ten years I have been seeing a transpersonal therapist.

I do think that individual and group therapy is useful in helping us develop into more fully realised human beings; however it is not the only way. For example some of the most powerfull growth experiences I have had have come about through participating in numerous Holotropic Breathwork experiences including one with Stanislav Grof.  These have effected profound changes on a transpersonal level that I believe would have taken many years in therapy.

I have also undertaken and staffed upon the New Warrior Training Adventure (Mankind Project UK- see links) which is a male initiation and at the time of writing am involved in an on-going mens'  'i-group' which involves many therapeutic and experiential elements.

My interests include, but are not limited to, archetypes, bicycling, cryptocurrencies, dub, entheogens, fireworks, holotropic breathwork, i ching, Jungian analysis, Kirlian photography, Love, mythology, neurology, orgasms, parenting, quantum physics, Rumi, shamanism, tantra, urbit, virtual reality, wine, zero-point field theory.