In this section I try to give you a flavour of the range of therapeutic activities from which I have benefited over the years to help you decide whether you want to see me.

I was raised in  Cornwall and Devon and went to school in Exeter.  I went to University in Liverpool, studying Psychology and Theology but did not complete my degree as I became involved in the politics of drugs and counter-culture. Following a stretch in the wilderness after University I emerged into a succession of jobs before realising that my path lay in therapy. I have been a milkman, worked in retailing carpets and even been a silk salesman. I do believe that a broad experience of life outside the ivory towers of academia is a pre-requisite for depth psychotherapy.

I write fiction and poetry as well as therapy articles. I live on a houseboat on the Thames, am married with two daughters and in my spare time enjoy scuba diving and assisting on large commercial pyrotechnic displays .
 

Formal qualifications and Continuing Professional Development (CPD)

I first qualified as a Counsellor in 1988 with Diploma (Distinction) in Counselling and Supervision from Roehampton Institute for Higher Education.

I was already working as a volunteer counsellor for Hounslow Youth Counselling Service and shortly thereafter joined West Thames College as Student Welfare Advisor which quickly became Student  Counsellor

During this time I completed three contracts working for the Staff Counselling Service at London Borough of Hounslow counselling staff on a wide range of issues.

I undertook further supervision training with the, then, Centre for Staff Team Development (now Centre for Supervision & Team Development) and received their certificate in Individual, Group & Advanced Supervision.

Whilst at WTC I worked as a counselling trainer for the Central School of Counselling and Therapy (CSCT).

I became approved by Metanoia Institute to supervise their trainees on the Person-Centred Diploma/Degree courses.

During these years I undertook dozens of CPD modules, too numerous to mention individually but which included Cross-cultural work, Art therapy, EMDR, NLP, MBTI etc etc as well as reading extensively around the various schools of therapy.

I also actively participated in many professional conferences including the Association for University and College Counselling (co-managing their list-serve base) and helping organise the second U.K. conference for the British Association for the Person-Centred Approach (BAPCA).

Having published articles in the Association of University and College Counsellors (AUCC) journal, Self and Society and in the BACP journal (now Therapy Today) I was flattered to be invited to write BACP's Information Sheet (G8) 'Counsellng Asylum Seekers and Refugees' which you can see here

I have succesfully completed my MA in Psychotherapy and Healing (Society for Psychology & Healing validated by Middlesex University) writing my dissertation on Jung and Shamanism.

Currently activities include working for the NHS, consultancy for BA Crewcare and supervising and assessing Metanoia Person-centred undergraduates.

I addition I have been training for the past three years in Advanced Integrative Therapy (see links for Seemorg Matrix). This work involves using muscle testing and chakras to heal trauma. I can vouch for it's safety and effectiveness.

Most of the trainings that I have attended over the last 20 years or so have included large elements of experiential work e.g during initial training we were exposed to on-going group encounter sessions.

After completing my training I initially attended therapy with a male NLP/Rogerian therapist which, though not particularly deep, was extremely useful in healing some wounds.
I then attended group therapy, briefly, with the late Petruska Clarkson  but did not feel that it was right for me at the time.
This was followed by a year in Analytic Psychotherapy with the Jungian analyst Prof. Andrew Samuels which was a revelation.
Since then I have seen two female therapists, the second for over three years. I am currently on a break but will no doubt return to therapy at some stage.

I do think that individual and group therapy is useful in helping us develop into more fully realised human beings; however it is not the only way. For example some of the most powerfull growth experiences I have had have come about through participating in several Holotropic Breathwork experiences including one with Stanislav Grof.  These have effected  profound changes on a transpersonal level that I believe would have taken many years in therapy.

I have also undertaken the New Warrior Training Adventure (Mankind Project UK- see links) which is a male initiation and at the time of writing am involved in an on-going mens'  'i-group' which involves many therapeutic and experiential elements.

My interests include archetypes, bacchanalia, consciousness, dub, entheogens, fireworks, holotropic breathwork, iching, Jungian analysis,  Kirlian photography, Love, masculinity, mythology, neurology, orgasms, parenting, quantum physics, Rumi, shamanism, science-fiction, theology, vitalism, wine, zero-point field theory.