I’m a straight, white, middle class, cis-gender woman, from a fairly large and complicated family. I’m well aware that I have been very fortunate in my life, and do my best to educate myself about the culture and experiences of people who have been marginalised due to aspects of their identity, whether that be race, sexuality, gender, class or disability. I invite conversations around all aspects of identity in therapy and although I may not always get it right, hope that I will create a context in which you feel safe enough to tell me when I don’t.
I trained as a clinical psychologist at the University of Hertfordshire, where I learned about social constructionist therapies, and very much appreciated the idea that the people I work with are the experts in their own lives. I reacted strongly against earlier, more directive models of systemic family therapy, where there seemed to be an idea that there was a ‘right’ way for a family to be, and that some families were ‘dysfunctional’. I find this language quite judgmental. Being a member of a large family myself, I understand that families are complicated systems, and all have their own ways of getting by together.
Some feedback from my clients:
“Thank you so much for your warmth, perceptive nudging, ready laugh, and excellent holding, as we stumbled along trying to articulate what either one of us was feeling, trying to feel, hoping to find”
“Thanks again for all your help and seeing us through a particularly difficult period with a great deal of insight underpinned with kindness and sensitivity. You managed to challenge us without ever feeling as though
you were ‘taking sides’ which must be one of the hardest elements of working with couples”
