Training and CPD…
My initial four years training at the Edinburgh Gestalt Institute (qualifying in 2009) involved ongoing personal therapy as well as practice and supervision. I followed this with further Gestalt training focussing on body process. Personal and group therapy continue to be part of my personal and professional development.
Continuing Professional Development:
2024
- Applied Training in Systemic Constellations. With Centre for Systemic Constellations. January to July 2024
- Deep Brain Reorienting Levels 2 and 3 (May/June). With Frank Corrigan.
2023
- Emergency First Aid at Work with St Andrew’s First Aid. November 23rd 2023
- Trauma and the Field with Stefan Jovanovic. November 18th 2023.
- Foundation Training in Systemic Constellations. With Centre for Systemic Constellations. April to September 2023
- Perception as a Key to Embodying and Repatterning the Nervous System. With Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen at Body-Mind Centering With April/May 2023
2022 and earlier:
- Relational Interventions for New Psychopathologies in a Post-Pandemic World. With the Italian Gestalt Institute, 2021-22
- Breath & Touch. With Therapeutic Art of Movement Institute. 2021
- Deep Brain Reorienting with Frank Corrigan. 2021
- A Disorder 4 Everyone. Seminars & lecturers through the year. 2019 onwards.
I’m a member of BACP and abide by their ethical framework. I’m insured to practice and support myself with regular supervision (see below).
I trained in Swedish Massage Therapy with the Scottish Massage Schools. I’m a member of SMTO (Scottish Massage Therapists Organisation).
Professional Support
I have a Gestalt supervisor (Louise Tait) and a DBR supervisor (Jan Cassidy) to support my clinical practice. I also work with Debbie Allan (The Yet Project) who’s a Somatic Movement Educator and Body-Mind Centering Practitioner.
Background…
I’m a sociologist by background and have always been interested in how groups behave and how we as individuals are shaped by the groups we belong to (within families, at work or socially).
My early research on workplace conflict resolution (between unions/management) led to me working as a consultant helping organisations improve the quality of work relationships. Drama and storytelling became the method I and colleagues used to show how behaviour affects people’s mental health and their ability to work effectively.
My greatest interest has been working within health and social care services, designing story-based tools to help individuals, families and organisations improve relationships, build understanding and identify solutions to shared problems.
Since my late 20’s I’ve explored therapy for my personal development, trying out different approaches and formats (e.g. 1:1, long-term group and short-term workshops).
Gestalt appeals to me on many levels, but I’ve also found approaches like Psychodrama, Primal Integration and Family Constellation Therapy of great value and these influence my own practice as a therapist.
Lively Body Mind 