Psychotherapists and Counsellors Answer your Questions

Psychotherapy was a natural progression from my previous careers. I worked for about 10 years as a specialist intensive care nurse in heart–lung transplantation, in teaching, research and clinical...

Psychotherapy was a natural progression from my previous careers. I worked for about 10 years as a specialist intensive care nurse in heart–lung transplantation, in teaching, research and clinical roles. I feel I learned the “cradle to grave” experience of life in nursing and, in many ways, grew up in that profession; important aspects of it have never left me. Later, I became a medical journalist and magazine editor and then moved into public relations, communications and corporate relations. These roles gave me a solid grounding in corporate life, organisational politics, high-pressure performance and leadership. I first read Games People Play by Eric Berne, the founder of Transactional Analysis, when I was 12 or 13, and knew then that I would become a therapist—though I also understood it would need to be later in life. I’m a people-oriented person who values being caring in a disciplined way, and my fascination with all that is both great and difficult about life has been an organising principle throughout my journey. At heart I’m a humanist, but I’m also a realist.