Nearly fifteen years ago I became very ill with anxiety and depression. It went on for a very long time and I was losing hope. At the time I could not imagine that there could ever be a way out, particularly since I had spent so long investigating different healing practices. For me, nothing seemed to work. If you can name a therapy, I probably tried it! Even with the best will in the World and a fundamentally strong outlook I still found myself daily undermined by the severity of my anxiety. Whether it was finally synchronicity, providence, patience, perseverance, or just plain being in the right place at the right time it did come to pass that eventually I found a therapist who showed me the way out. It's not just a system of healing that can do that. It's a connection with someone who really understands the territory. It was an incredible journey of transformation. Recovery did take time, but to be looking towards a future again was an unspeakable relief. Now, many years on, a profoundly changed person, I once again enjoy life - challenges and all! To this day I feel enormous gratitude for that guidance and assistance.

I mention this, because people tell me again and again how much it means to them to know that I have personal experience of anxiety and depression, particularly because when we're in it, it often feels so terrible that it's hard to believe that brighter days could ever follow. My mission is to share the healing that was once shared with me and to pass on the profound yet simple understanding that points the way to wholeness and health. Naturally then, I decided to become a therapist. In hindsight it's easy for me to see that life as a therapist was always a likely destination. From a very early age I was interested in helping and protecting people. When I went through my own personal hypno-analysis I was interested to note that much of my meaningful recall about what had been most emotionally distressing for me as a child had in fact been about other peoples distress! At secondary school my interests turned to the deep and meaningful, and my interest in the mind deepened. It was a little TOO MUCH inquisitiveness into the nature of the mind that landed me in the anxiety I later experienced. If I'd known then what I know now..........I may have done things differently. Still I wouldn't be as rich a person had I not had the experiences I have had, and so I can welcome the hardship as ultimately a blessing. Looking back it was all training for the work I do today!

Hypnotherapy was originally intended for me to be the first step into becoming a therapist. Put simply, the course I studied originally was accessible and I thought it a good place to start. Over time though I came to recognise that the tools I had learned were far surpassing my expectations for effectiveness. I had in fact learned a system of therapeutic change which incorporated all I had learned in my own therapy and much more. Although the therapist that had worked with me during my own therapy never mentioned hypnosis, I came to understand that actually much of the work we had done together was exactly that....just minus the "title". In essence then, my goal of becoming as effective as the person who worked with me has over the years I believe been exceeded.

I have now been a full time practicing hypnotherapist for almost five years. During that time I have continued to develop both personally and professionally. My work as a hypnotherapist is essentially clinical. I offer a practical, scientific, and grounded approach to positive change which is based on effective, time honoured methods, incorporated into a modern therapeutic framework. I pride myself on staying right up to date with the best of therapeutic research and draw from many different modalities to create an overall approach which is focused on "what works!" I am committed to continued professional and personal development. I regularly attend advanced training events to stay up to date with the latest developments and the best of current thinking, as demonstrated by research and experience; a process which continues indefinitely. I hold specialist certification as an "OCD & Anxiety Disorders Specialist". I am very approachable and I bring to my work a sincere sense of humanity and compassion; an ingredient I consider vital to all healing. My consulting room is a judgment free zone. Your individuality and circumstances will be honoured.

What do the Letters Mean?

Qualifications:

DHP - Diploma in Hypnotherapy and Psychotherapy - EICH/Clifton Practice Training (Bristol) 

HPD - Hypnotherapy Practitioner Diploma - NVQ4 -National externally accredited Diploma- Please click here for full details.

DCBH -Diploma in Cognitive Behavioural Hypnotherapy - Clifton Practice Training - This diploma is externally accredited to National Occupational Standards (NVQ4 - 1st year degree equivalent) by the NCFE. 

Click here to learn  what an NVQ IV award actually is.

Professional Association Memberships:

MAPHP - Full Member of the Association for Professional Hypnosis & Psychotherapy

MHS - Full Member of the Hypnotherapy Society

MNCP- Full Member of the National Council of Psychotherapists 

Code of Practice:  I work to a strict professional code of conduct which ensures full client confidentiality. An estimate of the expected treatment period will be provided during our initial consultation. I provide a highly professional, caring, and committed service to my clients at all times. For full details of the Codes of Practice and Ethics, and/or to confirm my registrations please visit:

http://www.aphp.co.uk

http://www.hypnotherapysociety.com

http://www.natcouncilofpsychotherapists.org.uk

You can access my sister website which is much more hypnotherapy specific by visiting www.hypnotherapyforlife.co.uk