HERE’S WHAT I OFFER

Writing Sessions

• One-to-one

• With couples

Working with me will give you a relaxed and safe place to explore both your imaginative and therapeutic landscape through the written word. I’ve found that a two hour slot with a ten minute break in the middle works really well for my clients. There is time to connect with yourself and settle into:

* what really matters to you about your writing

* what emotional landscape underpins your writing

* what this kind of writing practice will give you

I have worked with a wide variety of people: academics and writers, teachers and practitioners of different modalities, students including post-graduate and those working towards a PhD. And individuals who love to write and want to expand their practice or maybe feel stuck and frustrated.

If you are looking for a critique of your project, then I am not the right person. But I often explore how written projects (for example material for a book) might be approached more fully. And I’ve helped people write speeches they need to give.

Supervision sessions

In common, I imagine, with therapists, counsellors and coaches, I have always kept a work journal for reflective notes after sessions. But I also use literary strategies to increase and explore my understanding of clients and myself through the work I do as a practitioner. 

I think of three qualities we all offer in our work with others: 

* our particular set of skills

* our presence as another human-being

* our lived-life experience

Early in 2020 our lives and freedoms were changed absolutely by Covid 19. We all learnt to operate online for much of our social contact. I attended supervision sessions and thought I can adapt the therapeutic angles explored to my knowledge of creative writing. By the autumn of that year I ran monthly Sunday Supervision Workshops on Zoom. At the end of 2023 (see the About Page) I fell ill and all my work had to stop. I minded very much because I loved those workshops. As I return to work I am offering 1-1 supervision sessions addressing the kind of issues we discussed and wrote about during those workshops.

Here are a few themes we addressed:

boundaries, responsibilities, authority, money & endings

&  

silence — one of the foundations of my practice And life    

Tricky issues are the stuff of supervision sessions, alongside the unconscious and undigested thoughts and feelings we may have beneath our professional selves. We may bring our prejudices, discomforts, and judgements out into the open and address them head-on in the presence of another more experienced practitioner. And in so doing process and integrate ourselves more effectively. In that way we become more available to work with our clients or patients and evolve into more effective, thoughtful human beings. 

The Open Conversation as described in their book In Love With Supervision* (Robin and Joan Shohet) is a very particular type of conversation. An open approach to conversation means we may express our ideas free of perceived constraints of correct ways of thinking. We aim to listen with care to others and voice our responses and challenges too. Within the remit of supervision, this offers the opportunity for a welcoming approach to explore the thoughts and feelings of the inner lives of practitioners.

Writing and supervision both work with the principle of process. Nothing in life is definitive. Issues may be pulled apart as we find new understanding and insights. This is supported by taking the concept of the open conversation to the page with our writing.

* Shohet R & Shohet J. (2020). In Love With Supervision: Creating Transformative Conservations. Monmouth, UK: PCCS Books

Fees: Writing Sessions: 1-1 — £75; 2-1 — £120; Supervision Sessions: £80. (Allow 2 hours — Sessions can be shorter but same fee applies). No workshops planned yet, but when I restart here are fees: Workshops (Zoom) £45; Workshops Face-to-Face in Forest Row, East Sussex £40

Cancellations: please give me 72 hours notice to cancel an appointment. I don’t like charging for sessions which are in the diary but I have to rub out — life happens and I will be reasonable if you discuss cancellations or postponements with me.

Guidelines: 48-72 hours notice without rescheduling 25% of fee. 48-24 hours 50% of fee. Less than 24 hours the full fee is due and I will send an invoice.