About

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I was born in Hornsea in the East Riding of Yorkshire on the 27th June 1948. My father was in the RAF which meant that I travelled widely both in England and abroad as a child growing up in an armed forces environment. My mother was a self-taught artist. At the age of 16 I was employed as a civil servant by the Ministry of Defence in Whitehall, London. I left that employment at age 18 and subsequently had a host of different administrative posts. I eventually ended up in retail management at the age of 24, and this was my main career until I had my two daughters. 

Following the breakup of my second marriage I moved from the south of England to York and started a domestic cleaning business. Whilst cleaning the house of someone who was a Relate counsellor I chatted to this customer about her work. This was the turning point which inspired me to take up counsellor training.

 After gaining a BSC and Masters degree in counselling I then went on to complete a research Doctorate at the University Of Manchester.  The doctorate provided an opportunity for me to investigate the therapeutic value of understanding messages that dreams convey to us, the dreamers. During my research into the dream interpretation theories I promoted this topic through several conferences at the University of Manchester. Other conferences were:

• The 16th BACP Research Conference Heathrow 2010. The challenges of researcher reflexivity towards academic rigour that entails identity change.
• The 39th meeting of the Society for Psychotherapy Research Barcelona 2008. The big dream: a qualitative enquiry into counsellors’ views of selected dream models.
• The 11th BACP Research Conference Nottingham 2005. Therapists, clients and dreams.

I have now retired from counselling and have become a writer and researcher who specialises in writing books on complex psychological topics that are fact based. I hope that my books will be of interest to the general reader as well as the professions. 

I still live in York and am currently studying creative writing, military history, and learning foreign languages. The rest of the time I spend with family and friends going to the cinema and theatre, eating out, travelling, and reading crime books by authors such as Jo Nesbo and Harland Coben. 

Image of Steph and Daisy by James McHugh 

www.yorlifephotography.com

Charities

I love all animals, particularly dogs, and I regularly support the RSPCA. Click on the logo below to be taken to the RSPCA website.