About

I quite simply, love what I do, and so much so I have been working in bodywork for over ten years. I feel pure joy and excitement seeing my clients identify and understand what is happening in their mind/body system, perhaps for the first time. I feel privileged that they choose me to work with, and humbled that they share so much of what is going on in their journey.

After studying a Science and teaching degree in my early twenties, working as a science teacher, followed by many other careers and then realising I wanted to do “my own thing” by my late thirties, I jumped off the career track. I re-trained in Esalen Massage (Swedish relaxation massage) at the Esalen Institute in California, US. It was ground-breaking, life-changing and profoundly healing. I was disassembled and reassembled so intensely during that five-week course, that my life changed forever. After clinical massage training at JING Institute of Massage and Complementary Medicine, Brighton, and various CPD courses though Esalen and JING, and much practice with clients in clinic, I eventually found my way to Myofascial Release Therapy (John F Barnes) and Scar Tissue Work (Sharon Wheeler). I qualified in both modalities after training with On the Spot Training (Sally Morris has trained and continues to train with both John and Sharon). This training contextualised the way my work had started to develop after the Covid pandemic, and was a structured springboard for the work I am now offering in clinic. This work is a loving combination of everything I have learned from my wonderful teachers, colleagues and the observations/learning with my wonderful clients in clinic. My favourite saying when working with clients: “don’t despair, we will find a way, have hope, I have hope for you…”

I take a lot of nourishment outside of treatment sessions from my family, friends, pets and nature. My daughter is 8 years of age and I try and spend as much time during weekends and holidays getting out and about and enjoying activities with her. We are starting to cycle more together and she is far more sensible than I am about how we cycle and where. On a Saturday morning I can often be found walking the coastal path with a couple of boisterous, energetic French Bulldogs. When I have time, I enjoy horse-riding on Northam Burrows. Most weekend mornings are spent looking after animals, managing our land and gardening. And as most cat owners (we have 4) will attest – we all live with our cats, whom I’m sure were all Viking Warriors in a previous life.

My core belief system as a human being resonates very much with the natural world. I feel a clear, strong, nourishing connection with the ocean, and I am very lucky to experience this regularly as I live a 15-minute drive from the Atlantic coastline. This connection allows me to shake off spent or unwanted energy and draw-up the fresh, powerful force from the ocean. I often write or voice-record poetry when on these walks, particularly when I get the urge to. Writing poetry helps me to access and correlate feelings, thoughts and experiences that no other activity seems to do. I feel like I have had an internal-landscape-epiphany when I finish a poem. I also feel the intrinsic, rooted power of the woods and forests in my area, and feel held when I am walking through them. I feel a true sense of belonging and kinship with the trees, plants and animals.

I am also nourished by my amazing friends (many of them also therapists) and we swap our modalities to keep each other well. One of them holds an amazing women’s circle in Bideford and I feel very proud to participate in this gathering of women every couple of months.

In June 2023 I founded the North Devon Therapist Wellbeing Facebook group on the basis that there was a want and need for therapists from all modalities in North Devon to join together and have some kind of meeting space. I co-facilitate social gatherings currently, and we are hoping to run workshops and training, and perhaps form an official membership-based group in the future. Things are developing and unfolding organically as the group evolves.

If you have got to this page and something resonates, please do get in touch. If not, thanks again for stopping by, I really do appreciate it and I wish you well on your journey.