I have a First in Psychology and a Postgraduate Diploma (with Distinction) in Counselling Psychology. I am passionate about mental health, and obsessed with personal development. I am a person-centred therapist who is also trained in CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy) and psychodynamic therapy. Sessions can be by phone or in person.
I am a qualified Chartered Accountant with over 30 years’ experience. I am also a trainer, having trained finance, business and thinking skills for companies all around the world.
I have worked in private, public and charitable sectors, and can help with all aspects of financial administration, including bookkeeping, accounts, tax, budgets and forecasting.
I have written poetry since childhood. I have a degree in English Literature from Trinity, Cambridge, and writing has always been an important part of my life.
I prefer not to publish, but read at open mic evenings in Surrey. I believe that poets are language’s natural therapists and explorers, helping us to negotiate our world with well-expressed thoughts and feelings.
I have written songs since my school days. I play keyboards and guitar, sing, and record my own music. I have occasionally been a vocalist in groups, but I’m more comfortable writing and recording in private, sometimes collaborating, and sharing with friends.
I feel that music joins our mind and body in movement, and helps us to define and share otherwise unnameable emotions.
I love to go out with a camera and capture elements of nature, or portraits of people. I think of it as ‘deep seeing’, forcing us to watch our world carefully, and capture something meaningful.
In its focus, I believe it’s a kind of meditation. But I also find it therapeutic, and a great form of exercise to go exploring the urban and natural landscape.
I meditate every day, and consider it an important part of self-development and staying healthy. I am particularly interested in Eastern philosophies, and their discussion of compassion, wisdom, mindfulness and emptiness.
I have learned meditation within the traditions of Mahayana Buddhism, and believe that its practice can have a profound effect on mental health. As a psychologist, I have found many consistencies between meditation and the science of happiness.
I have founded a charitable trust called Mind and Money Matters, which seeks to help beneficiaries with their mental health, particularly in relation to their financial welfare.
Combining the psychological and the financial, the charity offers support, information and advocacy to those suffering from mental health problems and financial difficulty.
Anyone wishing to support or use the charity is welcome to get in touch.