I have spent many years as an academic philosopher paying attention to how people talk about their experience of not feeling at home or comfortable in their body. My CV of that career is here.
Alongside medical health professionals, I’ve worked with amputees and people with identity disorders of all kinds. I learnt to listen to how people adapted to different identity crises. I also learnt that vulnerable people often, given the right support, are able to transform their lives for the better with the right support. And that supportive professionals, of all stripes, are best employed as enablers for adaptive flourishing, rather than experts who impose their will on what they think is a good life.
My academic pursuits led to a number of publications, many of which are online. As an academic I became more and more interested in supporting and enabling vulnerable people to make positive changes in their lives. This led to me switching careers mid-life and becoming a talking therapist.
In 2022, I was ordained into the Order of Interbeing, under the Zen Buddhist tradition of Plum Village (Thich Nhat Hanh). At the time I was given the name True Direction of Harmony. Since 2025 I’ve been working as a Prison Chaplain.
Qualifications
I have a Ph.D. in Philosophy. Qualifications in Counselling and EFT, a Reconnective Healing Diploma and an Advanced Diploma in Holistic Hypnotherapy. I am a member of the International Hypnotherapy Association.
When I’m not working
I enjoy travelling through natural places, love wildlife and have an interest in amateur conservation. Locally, I enjoy fell-walking in the Lake District.