As a therapist and trainer I specialise in using Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT), Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) and through that work I developed the Identity Healing processes.
I grew up on Anglesey, in north west Wales (about as far west as you can go before falling into the Irish Sea).
I went to Nottingham University in 1977 to study Chemistry (because I didn’t get good enough grades to get into medical school).
When I got my BSc I thought that I might be a science teacher and took post graduate teacher training, which made it clear to me that I didn’t really want to be a secondary school teacher.
I’ve had a variety of jobs including: milkman, assistant steward in a cafeteria on an Irish Sea ferry, a Residential Social Worker at a centre for delinquent teenagers, the Assistant Head of Youth Centre in Brixton, in Inner London, and short periods as a grape picker in Switzerland, a spring grinder(!) in Germany and a night porter and barman.
In 1990 I moved to the north east of England to take an MSc in Software Engineering course in Newcastle upon Tyne, eventually finding work as a programmer specialising in image analysis programming for medical and scientific applications. At that time I became a practising Buddhist.
In 2000 I rekindled my long interest in NLP, which I first discovered in university, by taking a NLP Practitioner training, which led to even more NLP training and eventually finding and learning EFT.
In 2005, I abandoned the software engineering day job and started work as a self-employed therapist and trainer.
You can find out more about my work as a therapist and trainer at https://practicalwellbeing.co.uk
I now live by the sea in Blyth, Northumberland in the north east of England with my partner Karen.
Why I do this work
As is often the case with people in the counselling/therapy professions my interest in this work grew out of my own history and needs.
A very long time ago, I was a rather shy, introspective teenager that got interested in psychology as a way of better understanding myself and getting along with others.
At university although I didn’t study psychology I read a lot about it and took part in some encounter groups (which were big in the 70s) and got interested in counselling.
After university, at the tender age of 22, I took a three year part time Person Centred counselling diploma course with the Person Centred Approach Institute, an organisation associated with Carl Rogers the originator of Person Centred counselling.
When I had completed this training I realised that I wasn’t ready yet to be a counsellor and needed much more life experience to be effective; so I went into the variety of jobs that eventually led me to be a software engineer.
In 2000, I started to learn NLP in earnest and then EFT. Using these techniques consistently I began to notice profound shifts in my experience. Feeling much more at ease with myself than I had ever done before.
Having helped myself, I wanted to help other people, so I trained to be a Master Practitioner and Trainer of NLP and a Level 3 Practitioner and Trainer of EFT. I am a member of EFT International, which is my professional organisation.
Many practitioners are drawn to the work that resonates with their own situation and needs. Since I had been most affected by issues of poor self acceptance and limiting beliefs I naturally gravitated towards this kind of work.
Now I specialise in working with unhappy people, who want to change but don’t know how, let go of old suffering to change for the better.
I developed the Identity Healing processes over a number of years to work with my own identity beliefs and conflicts.
By blending EFT and NLP processes I came up with a set of techniques that worked well for me and my clients.
I’ve been using these techniques for some time with my clients and I think the overall patterns are robust enough to be presented to other practitioners.
The idea of healing in the sense of being made whole is very close to my heart, and has been a big part of my own personal self development. These techniques have helped me and many others experience valuable integrations and a quieter and more resourceful inner life.
I hope they do the same for you