About Helen

I came to counselling after a long career in international development, most recently leading climate justice and resilience work at Oxfam. For many years my job was to help communities, teams and organisations find a way through complex, often overwhelming situations. Along the way I kept noticing that the most important work happened in conversation: in people being properly heard, making sense of what was happening to them, and finding their own way forward.

That is what drew me to train as a counsellor, and it is what I value most about the work now: the privilege of sitting with someone as they find their own way through something difficult.

I believe that people are the experts on their own lives. My role isn't to tell you what to do, but to offer a steady, attentive presence while you work out what's right for you. I bring a wide view of the world to the room, from systems thinking to a deep interest in how our wellbeing is bound up with the places and communities we belong to, but our sessions are always led by you.

Training and registration

• Diploma in Therapeutic Counselling, Banbury Counselling Academy, 2023
• MSc in Human Ecology (distinction), University of Strathclyde
• Law degree, University of Liverpool, and qualified in law before moving into international development
• [Additional training, e.g. bereavement, trauma, CBT]
• Registered member of the [BACP / UKCP / NCPS], membership number [00000]
• I work within the [BACP] Ethical Framework and receive regular clinical supervision
• Enhanced DBS checked and professionally insured

Experience

Before counselling I spent more than twenty-five years in international development and environmental work. I was at Oxfam GB for twelve years, leading its climate justice programme and, before that, its resilience and climate adaptation work. Earlier I coordinated climate change adaptation across WWF's global network, and I lived and worked for several years in the Pacific and the Solomon Islands with VSO and the European Commission, including as a legal adviser and as a country director.

That background means I'm comfortable with big, complicated feelings about the state of the world, and with the particular pressures of working in demanding, values-driven roles. It also gave me a lasting respect for how much people can carry, and how much lighter it becomes when it's shared.

Outside the counselling room

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