I am a qualified counsellor with a diploma in counselling. Before moving to France three years ago, I practised as a psychodynamic counsellor in North London and was responsible for and taught on counselling courses in a college of further education. I also offered supervision to counselling colleagues.

I was an accredited member of the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy.The accreditation lapsed as I took a break from counselling whilst establishing myself in the Auvergne. I am now in the BACP International Directory and work to their code of ethics. I am also on the Counselling in France website. 
As a young teacher I worked in special schools for children with emotional difficulties. Because of family commitments I changed course and taught English language to adults who had come to live in Britain as refugees and immigrants. Listening to their difficulties led me to do a counselling training and so into teaching counselling and practising as a counsellor.  Although I live in France by choice and in much more privileged circumstances, I have experienced many of the feelings and anxieties that my students described: separation from friends and family, financial difficulties, helplessness through lack of language, frustration from living in a different system.


It may be that you have emotional or practical difficulties that you need to talk over, or you may not be sure what the root of your depression or unhappiness is. I am offering:

• Professional face-to-face counselling in the form of regular 50 minute sessions. The first session will be free and then there will be a small negotiated fee to cover my professional expenses
• Telephone consultations
• Skype Video consultations
  
• Help on line through email
• Complete confidentiality
• Referrals for practical help or translation or interpretation

You may want to talk over an immediate decision that you have to make. Rather than tell you what to do I would listen carefully and try to help you find your own answer.
It maybe that you are experiencing a loss, that you are missing friends or family, that coming to live in France is not as easy as you expected. All very normal feelings but it can be difficult to talk these things over with those close to you.


I describe myself as a psychodynamic counsellor. What does that mean?

I believe that often when we are unhappy, don't know why and are not able to find answers to present dilemmas, the answer may lie in past relationships and experiences which we may have buried or forgotten. If we can understand the importance of these experiences in relation to the present there is a possibility of moving on. It is not a matter of blaming others for our unhappiness but of 'working through' in relation to the counsellor so that we can confront  the pain and difficulties and take responsibility for our selves.

If you feel that I could help we can arrange a meeting or a time to talk on the phone and think together about how best to proceed. The contract can be time limited or open ended. We can also communicate by email.