I began my career in the NHS, first working in secure mental services and then in community settings.  Whilst I always enjoyed the work itself, I found I struggled to be a part of such a large machine-like organization such as the NHS.  At this time, my own experience of stress and pain lead me to acupuncture, and whilst I could understand the pain relief, I found the improvement in my wellbeing and reduction in stress more surprising and immediately wanted to know more.  The study of traditional Chinese medicine made sense to me – the philosophy that we are a whole being, not just a body or ‘head on stick’, resonated deeply with me.  It is a philosophy that is at heart of all I do. 

After another period of stress and many years of trying and failing to learn to meditate, I stumbled upon MBSR (Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction) through a friend.  This course enabled me to learn how to meditate and gave me such joy as it gave me a whole new lens with which to view the world and my place in it. It began a profound journey into the study and practice of mindfulness initially, and then onto somatic meditation, the deep listening to the wisdom of the body.

My love of psychology was always present within my practice as an acupuncturist and mindfulness teacher, bringing a richness to my work. At the same time my personal meditation practice focused around the connection to and wisdom of the body, and I engaged in the spiritual practice of Dance in the form of 5Rhythms. I felt a growing desire to to find a way of working with and the endless intelligence that our soma has to offer us more directly.  This lead me to Dance/Movement Psychotherapy as somatic form of psychotherapy, that has the potential to connect us to our body, mind and spirit in a graceful, subtle and insightful way.  My intention was always to focus on the treatment of trauma, knowing how body orientated methods can be so powerful in the healing of trauma, and incorporate DMP with Somatic Experiencing. I find both approaches have much to offer and complement each other for powerful and lasting healing to occur.