About Helen

Many people are interested in why someone becomes a psychotherapist. Here’s a bit about my story:

I originally trained as a dietitian, and early in my career, I was asked to see an elderly man with poor appetite due to cancer. I expected this to be due to the direct effects of the cancer or its treatment, but this was not the case. What he told me was that he was terrified of dying (his cancer was terminal), and that he couldn’t bear to eat because of that. I felt impotent to help - my diet sheets and practical tips were redundant in the face of this man’s distress and approaching death. But I realised he needed to speak about and share his fears, and that he needed me to listen.

Whilst I doubt I offered him much solace or comfort, I hope my attention was of some help. But I came away realising that being with someone in the moment, to share whatever was going on for them without imposing my own agenda, felt so very powerful, humbling and important. I didn’t know it at the time, but the seeds of my psychotherapy career were planted that day, thanks to that gentleman.

Over time, and in large part due to my journey in my own therapy, my interest in psychotherapy grew. This interest led me to complete non-clinical psychotherapy training at both Regent's College and the University of Kent at Canterbury.

As part of my learning, I learned about attachment theory. For me, this was another lightbulb moment - it really spoke to me about my own experience, but also about so many of the people I had worked with in my career and voluntary work.  So in 2006, I decided to take the plunge and train as an attachment-based psychoanalytic psychotherapist at the Bowlby Centre.  I began working clinically in 2009, completed the training in 2012, and registered with the UKCP in 2014.  No doubt, as a direct result of my previous dietetic experience, I am very interested in the interface between mind and body.