what is my role for Let's Talk?

I am a student counsellor offering Person-Centred counselling to young people and adults. Get in touch if you’d like to talk or work through something important to you.

What is my relevant experience?

I am qualified to master’s level in Art and Design, hold a teaching degree and have worked for more than 16 years in secondary education, meeting lots of wonderful people along the way. It feels really rewarding helping young people to improve their skills and I still really enjoy this aspect of my life, finding it energising and fun.

Over the past 3 years, I’ve been developing skills to support people to navigate the ups and downs of their lives and completed further training at the start of the Covid pandemic to support the challenges we all faced, achieving the Cosca certificate in counselling skills. I am now undertaking a post-graduate degree in Person-centred counselling to further these skills, working with both young people and adults in a voluntary capacity as part of this work. I find it a privilege to work with people in this way and have personally seen the great benefits of counselling in my own life.

As a person-centred counsellor, I believe people are inherently good and that we all have a deep desire to be the best we can be, even when life is full of big challenges and seems daunting. To help in this, I offer a confidential, non-judgemental and steady relationship to accompany people in gently exploring and navigating their own way of being in the world. Counselling can help you to work out and understand your decisions, face overwhelming emotions, overcome personal difficulties or accept and acknowledge important life experiences in a safe and understanding space. I’ve learnt to listen really well and see the benefit of this in many aspects of my life.

What I like to do when I’m not working?

I have lots of interests and hobbies that keep me active and busy, some of which I’m good at and some, not so much. Being outdoors, camping, walking and enjoying nature are all important to me because it helps me to feel free. I have completed an expedition leader qualification to support the Duke of Edinburgh award in schools and originally, I trained as an art teacher, so I love taking photos, drawing, printmaking, painting and making things.
I also really like growing plants and was chuffed to grow tomatoes and chillies in my kitchen this year! Making and trying out new vegan recipes to share with friends always feels good to me and I keep trying to play the guitar badly. I don’t think my neighbours are very happy about this!
When I can, I love to travel and have visited some wonderful places like Greenland, Mongolia, Nepal, Peru and Tanzania. I have walked 800 kilometres across Spain and even managed to climb Africa’s biggest mountain. I’m hoping to take up the Filipino stick art of Kali this year and might just need to visit the Philippines one day too. When I can’t travel, I enjoy telling stories about my adventures and value fond memories more that things.
I look forward to meeting you.

What are my skills/qualities

We used Johari’s Window which is a method to explore our qualities. We asked friends, family, colleagues, and young people to tell us what they think too. Here is mine: