The foundation of everything I do is grounded in Carl Rogers’ person-centred approach to therapy, in which unconditional acceptance, empathy and authenticity are key. Every client is the expert of their own life; my role is to walk alongside them as a companion as the therapeutic relationship we create together provides the time and space to safely explore their feelings, thoughts and experiencing.

I have been told repeatedly I offer a calming presence, facilitating the feeling of client safety. The most important thing to do is simply listen, an active skill I have honed through my years as a filmmaker. Perhaps bringing a unique flavour to my work is my experience and passion for both neuroscience and creative storytelling. These components bring a heightened awareness of neurodiversity and the neurological aspects of what may be going on for a client, while also bringing a creative curiosity seeking connections between thoughts, feelings and memories.

We are all stories unfolding through time. Sometimes, for reasons we are unable to avoid or control, our journey reaches an impasse we need help to get through. One of the most deeply rewarding aspects of this career are those moments when I have witnessed a client make their own breakthrough and continue their journey unhindered.

For my masters in Counselling & Psychotherapy, I brought all of my passions together in my dissertation to create an experimental, arts-based documentary, The Journey of Me. As someone new to personal therapy, my aim was not to just learn Carl Rogers’ theories and approach but to live them, to deeply reflect on how they were impacting and changing me over time.

Over a period of months, I recorded voice and video diaries during which I reflected on my experiences and feelings as a consequence of my own therapy. Once my therapy had reached a natural conclusion, this material – initially spanning over three hours – was edited down to a 35min documentary revealing the effects of the therapeutic process over time as I travelled through Rogers’ Seven Stages of Process.

The act of editing created numerous opportunities to reflect deeply on who I was, what I was feeling – and why – across an extended period of time. I even caught a moment of self-actualisation in action.

This research left me feeling far more capable and congruent as a therapist, having tackled numerous aspects of my past I hadn’t even realised were troubling me. It left me more open and able to help others while acting as a profound endorsement of personal therapy as part of one’s training. Finally, it reinforced a more creative approach to journaling one’s therapeutic journey, as video and audio caught moments that transcended words.

Featured at the Keele Education Conference, 2025, Keele University.

This year I intend to graduate from Keele University with a masters degree in Counselling & Psychotherapy (Level 7). This has been an exemplary, deeply reflective course, with a range of excellent tutors able to teach from the coal face of every facet of the human experience, from trauma to grief and beyond.

In addition to training with my fellow students, my placement was within Serenity Counselling, Wolverhampton, where a fantastically supportive team helped me to build my experience of working with a large and complex range of clients.

I am a student member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) and am guided by The Ethical Framework for the Counselling Professions 2018, ensuring the primacy and care of my clients at all times.

I am a great admirer of the work, approach and effectiveness of Carl Rogers’ way of being and do my best to embody his teachings.

As an award-winning filmmaker, my subject focus was frequently health, wellbeing and mental illness. Often working alone, I developed a reputation for eliciting warm and human interviews from my interviewees. These years honed my skills in empathy, communication and narrative-building.

Following my PhD in molecular biology and neuroscience, I conducted research in several fields, including Parkinson’s disease, motor neurone disease and gene therapy. An early indication that I had creative leanings manifested in writing, The Rough Guide to the Brain.