Sat on advisory board for the development of the new NICE guidelines for children/young people living with ME/CFS.

Run workshops from bereavement and grief ‘etiquette’ research for Marie Curie. 

• Currently lead the bereavement and grief ‘etiquette’ projects, exploring the felt sense of ‘should’ ‘must’ ‘right’ ‘wrong’ ‘appropriate’ and ‘inappropriate’ experienced when engaging with death, dying, and grief.
• Previous work with Continuing Bonds Team - running workshops, developing social media and online resources, editing and publication of anthology of creative works (https://continuingbondslive.files.wordpress.com/2019/10/thelivingandthedead.pdf)

Why do I teach?

Short answer: Because I really like my subjects and sharing these with others.

I also like to see students grow in their field, not just with the topic but in their confidence. We can all do it, we just need to engage in it (and be taught) in the right way for us.

Why study…

Providing a space where another person can get to know themselves, learn they are not alone in their feelings, express themselves without judgement, and find new ways forward in life makes psychological therapy a job like no other. Job satisfaction is huge.

Complete honesty? I get bored easily. The variety psychological therapy offers is important for me to feel I am spending my time on earth in a meaningful way. No client is the same as another. The therapeutic space is dynamic and deep, and provides opportunity for new experiences every day.

You can shape who you are as a therapist according to who you are as a person. Do you like yoga and meditation? Great. Use it in your therapy work. Keep a diary in your space time? Brilliant. Use diary writing with clients. Fascinated by unconscious drivers but less so by thought records? FANTASTIC! Research tells us the more aligned you are with your model the better your clients are likely to do.

Studying psychology, counselling, and psychotherapy doesn’t just mean a person can work in therapy. They can research too. They can supervise (other therapists in their clinical work). Teach. Write. It’s a subject which lends itself to opportunity.

Subject areas

Psychology, Counselling and Psychotherapy, Grief and Bereavement, Qualitative Research.

I supervise dissertations on the Psychology with Counselling and Psychotherapy BSc.

I supervise a Phd student asking, ‘Living with Ménière’s disease from a young age: an exploration of identity formation and psychological wellbeing’.

• Mostly qualitative approaches. Incorporate some survey methods.
• Expertise in Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis and Thematic Analysis.
• Grief and bereavement.
• Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/Myalgic Encephalomyelitis
• Enjoy multidisciplinary projects, e.g. death and bereavement/archaeology, wellbeing/archaeology, death and bereavement/archaeology/creative writing.
• Recent research questions addressed:
  • Where does ‘etiquette’ arise in death, dying, bereavement and grief contexts?
  • What is the lived experience of ‘etiquette’ when giving, getting, and living with memorial tattoos? 
  • How are mindfulness-based interventions experienced by people living with ME/CFS?
  • What are the therapeutic effects of engaging with archaeological digging at the Battle of Waterloo for veterans?
  • ‘What impact does engaging with archaeological materials about death and dying have for health and social care workers? 

Media appearances or involvement

2024: Guest on The Bereaved Parents’ Club podcast.

2019: Appeared on Radio Royal Bradford discussing grief and bereavement and the Continuing Bonds: Creative Dissemination project.