I completed a Postgraduate Diploma in Counselling
    qualification from the University of Strathclyde where
    I was a full-time student which allowed me to be fully
    focused on my studies.  

    Prior to completing my diploma, I gained the COSCA
    (Counselling and Psychotherapy in Scotland) certificate
    in counselling skills at a local hospice where the
    emphasis was on bereavement and loss.  This 
    qualification was recognised by CRUSE Bereavement
    Care Scotland.

I also attended the Pastoral Care and Theology course at Edinburgh University’s New College.

As well as working in private practice as a Person-Centred Counsellor, I am a
volunteer counsellor with a voluntary agency.

I am a member of the following professional organisations:

·                 The British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP)

·                 The Association for Pastoral and Spiritual Care and Counselling (APSCC)

·                 World Association for Person-Centred and Experiential Psychotherapy
   and Counseling (WAPCEPC)

·                 Associate member of Person-Centred Therapy Scotland (PCT Scotland)

My background is mainly in administration and I have worked in the voluntary sector for over 20 years in the capacity as a volunteer and employee.  I was involved in Victim Support Scotland for ten years in the role of Co-ordinator and latterly a visitor.  It was in being alongside victims experiencing the different ways in which they coped with life’s difficulties, which prompted me train as a counsellor.

Ongoing training

As the experience of the client during counselling sessions is of special interest to me, I am studying for an MSc in Counselling through research at the University of Strathclyde.

In my commitment to offer a professional counselling service to my clients, I attend courses as part of my continuous and professional development.     Here is a selection of courses I have attended:

•            Grief and Spirituality
•            Communication Tactics with Deaf People
•            The Focusing-Oriented Approach to Psychotherapy
•            Child Trauma and Recovery
•            SurvivorScotland Conference
•            Stories That People Bring to Therapy
•            Working with Mindfulness
•            Child Trauma and Recovery
•            Spirituality, Peace and Wellbeing
•      Person-centred planning for people with Autism and Asperger Syndrome
•           Issues in Bereavement where organs have been donated
•           In the therapy room – working with LGBT clients    
•           ASIST – Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training 
•         Story-telling and Ritual in Bereavement 
•           Getting the most out of Supervision
•     Training and Information on working with Deaf, deaf, deafened, hard of hearing and deafblind clients.