I have provided mentoring for people at different stages of their writing: people who were fairly new to writing poetry, as well as those who wanted help putting together a poetry pamphlet or collection. Support can be a combination of face-to-face meetings, email contact and Zoom/Skype sessions.

Coaching 

I have worked with writers of fiction and non-fiction, using a range of tools and techniques to overcome writers block.

For a number of years I’ve worked with amateur and professional performers (musicians, singers, actors) to deal with performance anxiety.

Haiku

I was introduced to writing haiku and tanka in the early 1990s and have since had work published in magazines (printed and on-line) in the UK and abroad. I have written a number of reviews of anthologies and collections for magazine Presence. I have introduced other poets to haiku, tanka and collaborative sequences such as renga/renku.

I am available to provide coaching sessions, for individuals as well as small groups, on the main principles of writing “traditional” haiku, such as the importance of season and cutting words.

Background

During a career spanning over 30 years I provided a range of assessment and development services to private individuals and companies, initially as an Occupational Psychologist and Management Consultant.  Then I retrained and for the last 20 years I practised as a UKCP registered psychotherapist and, since 2009, as an EMDR Consultant. In the same year I completed training as an EMDR Facilitator and regularly assisted on the Accredited EMDR trainings in the UK for registered mental health professionals.

I have a BSc in Psychology, BA with the Open University, MA in Occupational Psychology, and have relevant qualifications: a Certificate in Supervision (2005), NLP Master Practitioner (1993), Certificate in Life Coaching (2005) and a Diploma in Performance Coaching (2005).