I am committed to non-oppressive, non-discriminatory practice and to working in a way that respects diversity.
As a white person I believe it is my responsibility to reflect on what my whiteness means, the privilege it affords me and the harm it may do. Where I have power, I have a responsibility for considering how I might misuse it and how I can use what power I have responsibly.
The approaches I have been drawn to work with in my counselling and teaching, the Person-Centred Approach and Focusing, are intrinsically related to empowering people. The Person-Centred Approach is a non-imposing approach to therapeutic change, where together we try to make sense of your experience and get a sense of your way forward. Rather than me being the ‘expert’ on what’s right for you or imposing my knowing on you, I believe you have the expert knowledge within yourself and I want to empower you connect with this. I have the skills and experience to help with this process.
My initial counsellor training had a specific and substantial focus on diversity, and I have reflected extensively on such issues as culture, ethnicity, class, gender, sexuality and disability. I feel a strong commitment to working with people who feel socially marginalised as I believe that we are all equal and deserve to be treated as such. I care deeply about social justice and my own feelings of marginalisation inform my work. I am fascinated by what makes people different and have a respect for different cultures and experiences of living. Working in a way that fosters equality is of the utmost importance to me.
I am committed to trying to understand people’s unique experience rather than making assumptions based on stereotypes around ethnicity, gender, sexuality, sexual identity etc. Through understanding and empathising with my clients I accept people with different points of view from my own, with different backgrounds and their life experience from my own. I have the responsibility to continually check what gets in the way of me feeling accepting of and empathic towards people and what might get in the way of me seeing them as equal with a right to self-determination – then work on this. I have a responsibility to actively question my privilege, my personal power, how I use and could misuse it. This is the work of a lifetime and I am committed to this.
We all hold prejudices to some degree, but I aim to be aware of and attempt to minimise mine wherever possible. I am open to being challenged on this. I am aware that being from the majority white culture may impact on how people from different ethnic groups feel about working with me and am happy to explore this together with you.
I work in a non-pathologizing way with mental health issues. If you find a diagnosis to be true and helpful for you, I will work with this. I understand the potential impacts of classification within the medical model and will work with the meaning your mental and emotional health has for you. I want to see your experience of your life from your point of view, and I recognise the richness and complexity of human experience over and above labels.
Workshops: As with my counselling practice I would like my courses and workshops to be accessible to whoever would find them valuable, and I will work to make adaptations where possible. For instance, I believe my trainings to be gender diversity and neurodiversity friendly and can produce materials in large print on request.
Wheelchair access: There is wheelchair access at my premises at Sussex Osteopathy in Burgess Hill - please mention if you have a mobility restriction, or if there is a way I can help with accessibility, when you contact me.
My initial counsellor training had a specific and substantial focus on diversity, and I have reflected extensively on such issues as culture, ethnicity, class, gender, sexuality and disability. I feel a strong commitment to working with people who feel socially marginalised as I believe that we are all equal and deserve to be treated as such. I care deeply about social justice and my own feelings of marginalisation inform my work. I am fascinated by what makes people different and have a respect for different cultures and experiences of living. Working in a way that fosters equality is of the utmost importance to me.
I am committed to trying to understand people’s unique experience rather than making assumptions based on stereotypes around ethnicity, gender, sexuality, sexual identity etc. Through understanding and empathising with my clients I accept people with different points of view from my own, with different backgrounds and their life experience from my own. I have the responsibility to continually check what gets in the way of me feeling accepting of and empathic towards people and what might get in the way of me seeing them as equal with a right to self-determination – then work on this. I have a responsibility to actively question my privilege, my personal power, how I use and could misuse it. This is the work of a lifetime and I am committed to this.
We all hold prejudices to some degree, but I aim to be aware of and attempt to minimise mine wherever possible. I am open to being challenged on this. I am aware that being from the majority white culture may impact on how people from different ethnic groups feel about working with me and am happy to explore this together with you.
I work in a non-pathologizing way with mental health issues. If you find a diagnosis to be true and helpful for you, I will work with this. I understand the potential impacts of classification within the medical model and will work with the meaning your mental and emotional health has for you. I want to see your experience of your life from your point of view, and I recognise the richness and complexity of human experience over and above labels.
Workshops: As with my counselling practice I would like my courses and workshops to be accessible to whoever would find them valuable, and I will work to make adaptations where possible. For instance, I believe my trainings to be gender diversity and neurodiversity friendly and can produce materials in large print on request.
Wheelchair access: There is wheelchair access at my premises at Sussex Osteopathy in Burgess Hill - please mention if you have a mobility restriction, or if there is a way I can help with accessibility, when you contact me.
