I have worked and lived in Staffordshire for many years, mainly Stafford, Rugeley, Cannock, Lichfield and Hanley. I worked for Staffordshire Police for over 30 years, became a 3rd Dan Black Belt in Shotokan Karate and during that time became aware of my passion for helping people to help themselves change their lives for the better. In 2006 I trained with Relate, the Relationship People (formally
Marriage Guidance) to become a Couples and individual Counsellor. Since then I have worked as a Relationship Counsellor and worked within colleges as a Young Peoples Counsellor. I received my qualification as a Trainer and by using my Life Coaching and Life skills I found I was able to help additional people through courses in various subjects. Some of the courses for example have been about helping people change their lives, building their confidence and self-esteem; others about helping people to understand their anger, helping them to manage that anger. Low self-confidence can be difficult to overcome, the good news is that self-confidence is a skill that can often be developed. It is important to note, however, that the more pressure you (or others) put on yourself to live up to certain expectations, the more this could lead to anxiety and bruise confidence, so developing self-confidence at the right pace for you is important. One of the biggest joys in what I do is seeing incredible changes in people. Through the benefits of counselling and delivering training courses I have witnessed their self -esteem improve, their confidence build and increase, their vision for the future change and become more positive. I have seen all sorts of mental and emotional blocks disappear in clients enabling them to move forward in ways they never thought possible. I have worked with a wide range of people from elderly people who have lost that spark, people out of work, people who want to change their career, relationship, to teenage college students who self- harm. I have worked with members of the LGBT community to ex members of the Armed forces who are struggling with the transition to civilian life. In some cases people just want someone to listen, to feel they have a voice. In cases such as these, just having someone to listen to them goes a long way to improving their wellbeing and the development of a healthy mind-set. There are many definitions of wellbeing, but it is generally understood to mean both how satisfied we are with our lives, and the extent to which we feel our lives are meaningful. Each client is unique, has different needs and reacts in different ways to therapy. Therefore, I draw on several theoretical approaches to benefit the wellbeing of the client.
