About Me
My story of how I came to be a counsellor has been a long, challenging but enriching journey.
I was born and grew up in South Africa in the city of Durban in the sixties and seventies during the apartheid era. My memories of childhood are of family, friends, sun, sea, surfing and exotic African wildlife amidst a culture of diversity, poverty, injustice and violence.
After leaving school, I began a search to discover what I believed was my true vocation and calling. I became a nomad and worked in a wide variety of jobs including as a police officer, jewellery designer, business manager, architectural technician, nurse and midwife.
I initially began studying to be a clinical psychologist but after finding it too abstract and theoretical, I decided to become a psychiatric nurse. During my training as a general nurse, I encountered the work of Carl Rogers, one the pioneers of humanistic therapy and the founder of person-centred counselling. This experience was a pivotal moment for me. Throughout my nursing career, my use of person-centred counselling skills was central to the care of my patients, and I witnessed how incredibly healing it was them just to feel listened to and be heard with empathy and without judgement.
I lived for 10 years in the surf paradise town of Jeffreys Bay before moving to Ireland, the ancestral home of my mother. After 7 years, my wife, daughters and I moved to Gloucester in the UK where I became a devoted surfer of the Severn Bore. In 2015 we moved to Cornwall to be closer to our grandson and the sea. Whilst working as an agency nurse, I had the opportunity to begin studying counselling through the University of Plymouth at Cornwall College.
My personal life has been shaped over the years by a variety of challenges and suffering including multiple trauma, bereavement, loss through suicide, work stress, redundancy, health issues, religious abuse, relationship issues and parenting challenges. Through my own process of self-healing, personal counselling and support from those who love me, I found myself emerging from some very dark places into the light. These experiences have not only strengthened and enriched me but have given me a greater empathy for the suffering of others. They have enabled me to have more meaningful relationships with my clients and those around me. I have experienced the healing power of being listened to by someone who is honest and genuine, who cares about me, who does not judge me but accepts me for who I am.
My experience of working as a nurse in South Africa and the United Kingdom has also given me a deeper insight into the relationship between people's emotional wellbeing and the social, economic and political conditions of the society in which they live.
I have previously worked as a volunteer counsellor with We Are With You (formerly Addaction) and a crisis volunteer with SHOUT, a national text service that offers free support to those in crisis.
Apart from being in private practise, I am also an affiliate counsellor with an Employee Assisted Programme (EAP) company providing therapy to employees experiencing work stress and other underlying issues. My clients have included police officers, city council workers, teachers and university staff.
I have completed a BA Honours Degree in Counselling Studies which included training in supervision. Apart from counselling I offer supervision to trainee and qualified counsellors, as well as other professions such as those in healthcare and church ministry.
I am also an Associate Lecturer and clinical supervisor in counselling at Cornwall College. My current area of teaching interest is in the relevance of psychiatric drugs to counselling.
I am married with 3 grown-up daughters and one grandson. My passions include surfing, cold water swimming, walking, listening to music, watching decent films, being outdoors amongst nature and contemplating all things philosophical and spiritual.
My Qualifications & Professional Membership
- BA Honours in Counselling Studies and Supervision
- Diploma in Person-Centred Counselling
- Foundation Certificate in Bereavement Counselling
- Level 3 City and Guilds Award in Education and Training
- Level 2 Certificate in Counselling Skills
- Diploma in General Nursing
- Diploma in Midwifery
- Certificate in Primary Health Care
- Member of the British Association of Counsellors and Psychotherapists
- Member of The Person Centred Association
- World Association for Person-Centred & Experiential Psychotherapy & Counselling
- Westcountry Association for Counselling (WAC)
- Shout Trained Textline Crisis Volunteer
- Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST)
- Mental Health First Aid Training (MHFA)
- DBS Enhanced Certificate
"In everyone's life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being." Albert Schweitzer
Photos courtesy of Wildscape Photography
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