Hello and welcome…..
To introduce myself, I am a mother, a wife, a daughter, a psychotherapist, a sister and a friend, and that order can change depending on the day. I have four adult children aged 19 through to 26 years and two very lovely dogs… and life has not always been plain sailing. I am certainly not coming from ‘the expert, follow me for guidance’ position, having gone through many experiences synonymous with family dysfunction. Drugs, anxiety, homelessness, and addictions have all featured in my family...… and I am a therapist. I am a proud blend of English and Cypriot and I hail from the County of Essex, although I have been settled in Worcestershire for many years now.
No one is immune from the challenges of family life, and many colleagues that I have worked with along the way have similar experiences. In fact, and I was surprised initially, but not now, to learn that those in the helping professions have a higher ratio of parenting issues than those who do not work in the field.
I am also a ‘professional’ and have worked with many people in my career and it is this, alongside putting my knowledge into practice with my own family that has influenced the writing of this introduction.
My core training is as a psychotherapist to master’s level, and spans 9 years in total. Why is that important? For me this suggests a commitment to the field, to better myself and to provide the most up to date information to the people I help. The first 7 years was in counselling/psychotherapy training, I then went on to train in systemic practice at the Tavistock clinic in London, and this was my lightbulb moment in terms of how I understand people, and their environments.
Whilst undertaking my systemic training, I was a mental health lead, developing and growing a 3rd sector counselling service which spanned the county of Warwickshire. I worked so hard with my team to avoid any diagnostic or medicalised language being used, so we could truly understand the lived experience of parents/families. To be able to offer a completely non-pathologising service was a privilege, and our outcomes were good. I also found it Ironic that our main referrer was the NHS, where diagnostics and pathologising was the main stay of their IAPT service.
The service supported 500 referrals a year and the insight developed within the child and parenting field, although was very much the inspiration for my work, was not the starting point of my curiosity about what actually is going on for people. That came as I completed research into military wives’ experience of their male veteran partners experiencing mental health issues such as PTSD, a few years previously. This is where I really noticed the impact of system dynamics and the influence of childhood adversity.
I now work predominantly in private practice; I also offer mental health training and coaching to professionals, and my psychotherapy work draws on system dynamics, intergenerational patterns and helping people work out if it’s their ‘stuff’ or handed down issues. I work with respect and sensitivity on areas such as trauma, abuse and neglect, family secrets and stories, and mental health issues, which have never been resolved in the family of origin, which continue to impact the next generation.
After many years in practice, I am now confident that many mental health issues can be understood and worked through without the need for diagnosis or labelling, if only we consider the context and lived experience of the individual, we can then understand what someone is responding to and ultimately trying to ‘survive’. And I include children and young people in this.
I have worked with local authorities nationally on the roll out of the Parental Conflict programme, local Redditch businesses to support staff and their organisational relationships, and Hillcrest secondary Mental health hospital on the site of the Alexandra Hospital at the beginning of my career. I have worked in football clubs delivering mental health training, alongside mindset work with athletes. Very different field I know to the afore mentioned areas of work but coming from a sporting family, (not me I hasten to add!) this work had come my way.
My aim is to help you understand your difficulties, i.e., explore where your depression or anxiety has come from, show you why you keep attracting the same kind of partner, help you understand what your child struggles might be about, get to the bottom of your people pleasing tendencies…… the list can go on as people are so unique.
Ultimately, I want to facilitate awareness in how the relationships we have, largely determine the quality of our mental health, and often hold the insight into our suffering.
I am delighted that in this day, and age, I get to work with people as far away as Australia and often within Europe, and with people with cultures and languages different to my own. The therapeutic relationship is the key to establish a good working alliance and I do my utmost to establish this with clients, both near and far.
I always offer a no obligation telephone call prior to arranging appointments so please get in touch if you are considering working with me, I more than welcome your enquiry.
I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Emma