Hello and welcome to Your Shoes, My Hooves.

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Based in Leighton Buzzard, Milton Keynes and surrounding areas I have been practicing as an Integrative Therapeutic Counsellor since 2012. As an Integrative Counsellor I am able to draw on a number of different theories dependant on the individual need of the client but the foundation of my work comes from a CBT, Psychodynamic and Humanistic approach. I am passionate about art and creativity and believe that the use of metaphor and imagery in psychotherapy can play a key role in us further exploring our thoughts and emotions and thus gaining a greater understanding of ourselves, our behaviour and our relationships with others.

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Prior to private practice I worked with people battling addiction. During this time I found myself becoming curious about the often apparent link of the adults accessing the service and childhood trauma and the impact such events had on the individuals’ cognitive, behavioural and social development. My interest in working with young people developed from this role and in 2015 I enrolled at the Institute of Arts in Therapy and Education and gained a Diploma in Counselling Children and Young People.  

Over the years, my passion for working with young people has taken me to working part time in a large secondary school in Milton Keynes coordinating the therapeutic department. This role has included overseeing a team of counsellors, designing and facilitating group programmes focusing on issues around anxiety, self harm, protective behaviours, the impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES), and body image and also delivering mental health training to all teaching staff. I was also instrumental in the introduction and setting up of a mental health provision in a primary school in which no such provision existed. This exciting role gave me the opportunity to share my experience and knowledge with the wider school enabling us to support the children most in need.

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So why Your Shoes, My Hooves? Qualified in Equine Facilitated Psychotherapy, I bring together my love for horses and my passion for helping others overcome barriers that can get in the way of living a more fulfilling life. For hundreds of years human and horse have walked side by side and recent research has shown that the relationship between us goes far deeper than a ride in the saddle. Horses have always played a big part in my life and I have always found peace and calm amongst them, even on the most difficult of days. This approach to counselling moves away from the more traditional ‘room based’ sessions that I offer and will involve you coming to the stables and working alongside me and my ‘co facilitator’- the horse.