about me
I was born and raised in London, England where I have been based for most of my life. Growing up in such a cosmopolitan and multicultural city, I have been fortunate enough to find myself exposed to, and immersed in, cultural influences from all over the world and from all walks of life which is something that I value deeply. It has also given me the opportunity to work with professionals and clients that reflect a similar level of diversity.
More recently I have been dividing my time between the UK and Asia and have continued to work with clients internationally.
I decided to train as a counsellor having received counselling myself for the first time in 1998. After years of battling with self destructive behaviours and experiencing many dark lows, this was a profound and powerful life changing experience for me. It spurred me on to achieve much more with my life and it was about this time that I discovered that in addition to therapy, help and wisdom can come from so many sources. I explored, and was influenced by,
philosophy and the various spiritual traditions and this triggered a process of discovery and learning which continues to this day. I qualified as a counsellor at the Gestalt Centre, London in 2007.
One of my main specialisms is the field of addiction and/or compulsive and out of control behaviours behaviours. I worked as a substance misuse counsellor in the A&E (ER) department of a busy North London hospital and have managed an alcohol support project for young people. I also managed a pan London LGBTQ+ drug and alcohol service working very much at the epicentre of the “chemsex” (sexualised use of drugs) phenomenom. There I was responsible for the setting up and development of individual and groupwork programmes aimed at supporting people who were experiencing challenges in this area as well as providing training and consultation to other services and organisations to enable them to be able to provide effective chemsex support.
From 2018 to 2020 I was working as the addictions lead at a mindfulness based recovery centre in Northern Thailand where I was able to integrate highly effective mindfulness practices into the work with truly great results.
I have a dedicated commitment to ongoing personal and professional development. I am a member of and, subscribe to the code of ethics developed by, the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP). BACP are one of the main professional and regulatory bodies overseeing counselling and psychotherapy in the UK, further details can be found at https://www.bacp.co.uk/