The experiences of my formative years led to a growing sense that I wanted to devote my professional life to working with people so that I could better understand what made them who they were and how they could influence and shape their lives if they decided they wanted to do so. I strongly believe that individuals, groups, organizations and whole communities can and do grow and change for the better.
Initially I chose to go to a University where I could study Behavioural Science with an emphasis on psychology.
I then pursued a career in industry and commerce.
Between 1971 and 1993 I accumulated 22 years' experience as a Human Resources Manager, Company Training and Development Manager and internal Organisation Development and Change Management Consultant working for European and American blue chip multi-national fast moving consumer goods and IT companies. My major areas of expertise included improving organisation culture, operational efficiency, team work and individual effectiveness focussing on the psychological dynamics that impact a person's capability to work effectively with others.
In 1992 I founded my own Human Resource Consultancy in response to many people in corporate life telling me that they felt dissatisfied and unfulfilled both personally and professionally with their working lives despite the best efforts of their organisation to provide training and development. I could see that many of the attitudes, values and beliefs, behind experiential psychotherapy seemed directly applicable to resolving the personal and professional development issues facing people in organizational life.
The aim of my consultancy business is to bring psychology to business in a useable form. A key focus behind my approach is to recognise the unique contribution of human beings to the creation of organisational success and to design approaches that encourage people's ability to learn, develop and work together through valuing and utilizing individual differences.
In 1985 I began my own psychotherapy to work through an intense personal crisis.
As I grew to know and understand myself better I decided that I would like to develop both personally and professionally in this field.
From 1989 onwards, most of my personal development and professional training as a Psychotherapist has been with Spectrum, a London Based centre for Psychotherapy, which provided space for personal enquiry, an opportunity to influence, regulate and differentiate old historic habituated patterns of thought, emotion and behaviour that don't work any longer, and supported me to learn strategies for managing all aspects of my life. Much of their philosophy informs and educates my work.
As a Spectrum trained psychotherapist I have
I started my psychotherapy practice (The Rowan Practice) in 1991 with individuals and after graduating in 1998 also started working with couples , parents, families and groups
I work with and support clients who are working through a wide range of difficulties. I provide individual and group clinical supervision for practicing counsellors and psychotherapists, as well as work supervision for anyone wanting to create a more personally satisfying work life. In addition, I offer coaching mentoring and training for anyone who has ongoing responsibility for others as a significant part of their work. (e.g. Nurses, social workers, teachers, etc.).
Over the last twenty years, through my experience of bringing up my own children who have differing developmental impairments, I also decided to work as a part time volunteer for White Lodge, a charitable organisation, befriending families who are coming to terms with the changes to their lifestyle, relationships and expectations resulting from a diagnosis of a life-long learning, developmental or behavioural difficulty for a member of the family.
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