About Me
Strained intimate partner relationships are often a source of emotional anxiety and distress. Where there are children with an affectionate bond and attachment to both their parents they can become distressed by the on-going conflict. I specialize in assessments of parents struggling to resolve the conflict in their relationship and have concerns about how this is impacting on their children. Child development research cites substantial evidence about children not being able to attain their psychological potential when they are unable to develop and maintain meaningful relationships with both their parents whether the parents live together or not (Kelly & Lamb: 2000).
I offer tailored bespoke assessments of parents, stepparents, and support grandparents. I provide co-parents who are divorced with systemic co-parenting therapeutic sessions from within a multi modality perspective with a view to supporting them towards developing a co-parenting alliance in the best interests of their children. I offer parents therapeutic parenting support sessions. I provide assessments and therapy to children and adolescents affected by parental relationship distress.
In my experience parents who have been proactive in working together to promote the best interests of their children have reported making significant reductions in the human and financial costs associated with protracted litigation. Much of the emotional distress experienced by children is mitigated at a much earlier stage and can reduce time frames towards a therapeutic resolution of family conflict.
I have extensive experience as an ISW / Expert Witness in Children’s Act Proceedings in private law and devote 50% of my time to this work.
What I Offer
Areas of specialization:
- Separation and divorce
- High conflict
- Parental alignment, estrangement or alienation
- Trauma
- PTSD
- Abuse
- Couple counselling
- Bereavement and loss
- Depression
- Parenting support
- Therapeutic mediation
- Children’s support
- Adolescents and young adult support
- Sexual abuse and rape
- Eating disorders
- Emotional abuse
- Pregnancy and birth
- Post birth bonding and support
- Couples counselling
- Family counselling
- Systemic co-parenting conciliation
- Anxiety
- Panic attacks
- Psychosis
- Reunification therapy
Training, Qualifications & Experience
- Professional Doctorate / MA Advanced Clinical Social Work (with merit) 2011, Tavistock & Portman Clinic/University of East London.
- AASW 2007, University of London.
- CQSW, Dip SW, ASW (1983 Mental Health Act) 1991 and AASW, 2005
- UKCP Humanistic Integrative Psychotherapy training 1993 – 2003
- Family Constellations Bert Hellinger training 2008
- Associate Group Analytic Society GAS, London 2008
- Supervision & Mentoring training, University of West of England 2008.
- BACP member 2000 – 2015.
- GP Practice Counsellor 1995 – 2002.
- Psychodynamic & Systemic Family Psychotherapist, Parents Service & Adolescent Department, Tavistock & Portman Clinic, London 2003 – 2011
- Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services, CAMHS clinician for children, young people and families, Tier 2, Tier 3 & Tier 4, 2005 – 2017
- CBT Mindfullness Based Therapy 2014
- Balint Society (for the study of the Dr. patient relationship) trained 2009 – 2015
- Visiting Lecturer on the Approved Mental Health Professionals MA University of London. Visiting Lecturer on Child Development & Infant Observation MA Kingston University.
- Attachment, Trauma and Family Systems Narrative Therapy 2023
- Hearing the Voices of Formally Alienated Children, Palace of Westminister, Baroness Catherine Meyer 2023
- Working Collaboratively to Provide Better Outcomes for Children Family Law Professionals Roundtable Discussion 2023
I run my private practice from Brighter Spaces Guildford. Book your session by contacting me directly on email or phone.