Two great passions of my life - music and connecting with others - came together in my first training as a Music Therapist. I graduated with an MA from Roehampton University in London where the training approach was psychodynamic. I worked for 12 years as a UK Registered Music Therapist with children and young people with learning difficulties, adults with physical disabilities and young adults with mental health illnesses. This work taught me a lot about the power of music to communicate where words fail, or where we cannot fully access a verbal language. I carry these experiences into my therapy work with children and adults today. While I love working verbally with clients, for instance by using methods from my Cognitive or Narrative Therapy trainings, I also know how powerful creative tools like art, music, sand tray, and metaphor can be. They can give voice to our story in new ways, unlock meaning and insight and help us think more creatively about the changes we want and how to achieve them.

Following a Master’s degree in Social Work, I worked as a Child Therapist in North Belfast for a community counselling service. This was a formative time as I grew to understand the traumatic impact of the Northern Irish conflict on communities, families and children. During my time in North Belfast I completed an advanced training in trauma to help me understand and respond better to the situations families were facing. I have sustained a specialist interest in trauma work throughout my career.

I moved to Barnardo’s in 2001 where I worked for eight years as a senior therapist in their NI conflict trauma service, supporting children, young people, adults and families to understand trauma experiences and their impact. Providing interventions which included evidence-based tools to process trauma memories was such a rewarding experience. I benefitted from additional qualifications during my time in the trauma service, including a training in a powerful evidence-based trauma reprocessing tool called ‘Trauma Rewind’ - or Visual Kinaesthetic Dissociation [VKD] - which I continue to use in my therapy practice.

In 2008 I was asked to set-up a primary school-based counselling service in Barnardo’s which I led until 2024. During this time I worked with the team of school-based therapists to design a unique therapy model for supporting young people’s mental health.

I get great satisfaction from learning. During my thirty+ years as a therapist I have added many courses and qualifications from different professional modalities, achieving an Advanced Diploma in Psychological Trauma, a Diploma in Brief Cognitive Therapy, a Post-Graduate Certificate in Family Therapy and a Level 2 Diploma in Narrative Therapy. I also have a Play Therapy Toolkit training from PTUK.

I have been an Accredited and Registered Psychotherapist with the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) since 2005. I specialise in a pluralistic approach in my therapy practice. This means I do not believe that there is one ‘right’ way to do therapy. There are no magic remedies or one-size-fits-all solutions. The many therapy models available today are really just different ways of describing how life challenges arise and what we can do about them. When we connect with a particular therapy approach it is because it ‘clicks’ for us; it makes sense and and helps us think about the changes we want to make. As a pluralist therapist it is my job to help each person find the approach, or blend of approaches, that works for them. Each of us has a unique ‘theory of change’ which shapes the preferences we have for particular methods and approaches. In my work I really enjoy bringing together the many strands of my training and experience and offering these as resources for people to choose from.

I just love the ‘buzz’ of being a trainer. I have developed courses and workshops throughout my career, including designing and delivering a Diploma in Counselling Children and Young People validated by the UK Counselling and Psychotherapy Central Awarding Body (CPCAB). I am currently the learning lead in Barnardo’s across the UK for a model of therapy and mental health support I developed during my time in the schools-based counselling service in N. Ireland.

Research and writing have always held a special appeal for me. Since 2007 I have followed an interest in the benefits of ‘feedback-informed therapy’. I was fortunate to be involved in a large study of therapy outcomes across 30 NI primary schools using the Child Outcome Rating Scale (CORS) measure. In this internationally published study, the first of its kind to look at children’s use of CORS feedback, I was privileged to work with two of the measure’s authors, Professor Barry Duncan and Dr Jacqueline Sparks. Over the years I’ve written many articles and book chapters on different therapy-related topics which I’ve also presented at national and international conferences.

I have many years’ experience as a clinical supervisor and a training in supervision through my social work Practice Teaching Qualification

Outside of work, music is my major passion! There is nothing I like better than encouraging others to sing! I have run community choirs and been involved in church music for over 30 years. I am in the process of developing a new venture for PossAbilities - the Singing Makes Community workshops. Sign up to our Mailing List and keep an eye on the website and social media for more details!