Trainee therapists 

I offer individual and group therapy to trainee therapists and counsellors. I work from a psycho-dynamic and humanist perspective, working with somatic mindfulness, developmental models and all forms of creativity. The route for student therapists in therapy is the same procedurally as it is for anyone else. However, it can differ in process due to the nature of the ‘personal therapy requirement’.  I believe that therapy is crucial throughout a therapist’s training in order to process their experience, attend to any unmet needs and challenge unhelpful values/behaviours. 

Consultation process
During the consultation session if we decide to work together with me as your therapist, we may need to then decide whether group or individual therapy is most appropriate for you (depending on your course requirements). In these cases I would recommend that we have 4 individual initial sessions to offer an introduction to the way I work, to gather further information and to allow a good amount of time to decide which avenue (group or individual) is most appropriate for you at this time. When trainees make contact with me to enquire about therapy, I make it clear that there is no requirement for them to have group therapy before individual therapy or visa versa. The decision is made between you and me which would be the most appropriate taking into account your personal and psychological needs.  

Therapy Group
I run a group that starts around the end of October through to the following June each year. This trainee group has come in different shapes and sizes over the years and is currently in the form of a 2 hour weekly sessions in addition to 4 workshops, consisting of 4 hours, equally spread over the year. 

It is usually a relatively small group which allows for the members to explore and process arising issues in a safe way. Group therapy is challenging and there will be times where all members will struggle with their own difficulties within it. However, group therapy is also lots of fun, sometimes exhilarating, and offers rich rewards on a deep and permanent level.

Individual Therapy
If you attend individual therapy with me we will meet on a weekly basis for hourly sessions. If you have a required number of sessions to complete I recommend students start therapy as early as possible in order to completed the minimum requirement with enough time. 

It is quite common for trainees (who haven't experienced any form of therapy before) to worry about how it might feel to have the focus solely on them (as opposed to being able to 'hide' a little in a group). This is understandable and it is something I aim to let those nervous about feeling 'exposed' know that we go at their pace. This feeling, once acknowledged, typically dissipates naturally, often leaving clients eager to return to 'their' sessions to have 'their' time.

Dramatherapy Trainees
The BADth (British Association of Dramatherapists) regulations for student personal therapy are:

All student Dramatherapists will undertake a minimum of 72 sessions of personal therapy. Of these 72 sessions, a minimum of 30 sessions shall be in a dramatherapy group facilitated by a Dramatherapist who has at least three years post qualifying experience and substantial experience of working as a Dramatherapist. Of these 72 sessions, a minimum of 30 sessions shall be in individual (one to one) dramatherapy/arts therapies/ psychotherapy facilitated by a registered therapist who has at least three years post-qualifying experience of working as an individual (one to one therapist).

The remaining 12 sessions can be group or individual therapy. A session is deemed to consist of two hours of group work and one hour for individual work. The 72 sessions shall commence within the first third of the training period. The therapist must be a Full Member of her/his professional association and bound by that association’s code of ethics.

If you would like to find out more about individual or group therapy please go to 'contacts'.  You could also go to ‘Starting therapy' and my 'About Me' for further information.

For details about fees please go to ‘Fees’