My route into psychological therapies started in 2005 when, after qualifying as a nurse in the late 1990s, I first trained as a CBT therapist. After becoming familiar with this approach within a busy Crisis/Home Intensive treatment team, I was fortunate to secure a post as High Intensity Therapist with a local pilot IAPT service, going on to complete my EMDR training in 2009.

Since then EMDR has been central to my practice, and as an accredited Consultant I now specialise in Trauma and Complex Trauma for a Forensic Medium-Secure inpatient setting.

I established my own private practice in 2014, SRPsychotherapies, working mainly late nights and weekends using EMDR to treat industrial injury trauma and other accidental injuries. I run a local Special Interest Group which includes many very experienced and excellent EMDR psychologists/therapists – a solid platform for sharing innovation in practice and developing opportunities for continuing professional development.

As those who work with me know well, I am passionate about trauma and recovery, experiencing the fascination of this work as a complete privilege. I’m particularly keen to explore the boundaries of what EMDR is able to treat, integrating it with other models and also with areas less directly associated with trauma such as relationships, substance misuse and also especially OCD.

Inspired by approaches that work best for my patients and what might be termed a ‘right brain to right brain’ experience of therapy, I first signed up to Laurel Parnell’s Attachment-Focused EMDR training in 2014.

This has made a big difference to my practice, and, I believe, made me a much more skilled and attuned therapist. With its strong emphasis on resourcing the client, the work now feels even more grounded and safe, and less likely to get stuck. Indeed, I will never embark on trauma processing with a client without a ‘resource team’ firmly in place.

I’m delighted to be part of the EMDR Focus team, helping others to learn clinically sound and effective tools with which to help to change our clients’ lives for the better.