Anamchara is a Celtic word meaning ‘soul friend’ and these sessions offer a space to reflect on your internal world. As a clinical psychologist and spiritual director I am interested in psycho-spiritual growth and like a Celtic knot, it is often difficult to separate the psychological and the spiritual and it can be useful to see how they weave together and interact.
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I have accompanied people on their spiritual journey informally in pastoral sessions as well as within therapy for many years. I then trained in spiritual direction through the course run by the Chelmsford diocese based at the Pleshey retreat house (2015- 2017).
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In terms of my own spiritual journey, I have early memories of talking to the moon as a young child, before I was aware of any concept of the Divine. I grew up in a non-religious family and became a Christian in my late teens. Apart from briefly being a Baptist and a Pentecostal, the majority of my Christian life was in Anglican, charismatic, evangelical churches. This is where I met my husband, who was a lay minister in the Church of England. We were both in various church leadership roles and full-time Christian work.
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After about twenty years in these settings I had a ‘crisis of faith’ that Richard Rohr might term ‘Falling Upward’ which led me into a process of deconstructing and faith shifting. I am extremely grateful for this time which expanded and deepened my spiritual life. I would now describe myself as a Celtic contemplative within the Christian tradition and I gratefully value the spiritual home that I have found within Contemplative Fire.
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I have completed the Ignatian spiritual exercises and greatly value the wisdom that Ignatian spirituality can offer within spiritual accompaniment. I find the Enneagram and Myers-Briggs personality test useful tools for self-reflection and growth. Within my own spiritual life, I journal and find creativity and connecting with nature life-giving and important aspects of my journey. I have trained in art therapy, ecotherapy and therapeutic creative writing and these can be useful in exploring the spiritual as well as the psychological journey.
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I am a trustee of Wholecare which seeks to promote a more holistic approach within healthcare such as providing GP chaplaincy and staff support. In developing an holistic approach to Cognitive behaviour therapy and the related ‘Free to be Me’ course I have explored how spirituality and therapy can be integrated. I also recognise the importance of embodiment and an awareness of needing a mind-body-spirit holistic approach to personal development.​​​​​​​
​I am a member of the Spiritual Direction Forum and the Association for Promoting Retreats. My Grenadian husband and I formed a charity in Grenada and had plans to develop a retreat house together. My husband died months before we were due to relocate and so I am familiar with the grief journey, which is another strand woven into my life. Grenada has become my home and I am still working towards the vision of the Hummingbird Retreat House.
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I seek to live within the Source and Flow of Life and to follow the words of Evelyn Underhill, when she said that ‘the spiritual life is simply the life lived from the centre where I am anchored in God.’ The spiritual accompaniment I offer seeks to be walking alongside in the not-knowing where this flow will take us, but trusting this Divine process. I offer my presence to be a witness to your challenges and pain, a space to voice difficult questions and doubts and companionship on this pilgrimage called life.
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I provide one-off or regular Anamchara sessions as well as offering one-off or regular supervision sessions. Having worked in adult mental health for many years I have provided training for spiritual directors on mental health and I offer supervision for when mental health issues arise in spiritual direction. All sessions are online unless they are part of a retreat in Grenada and the rates are negotiable but are generally £50 - £80.