Diane Walls

My principal training (PG Dip) is in Psychodynamic Therapeutic Counselling. In brief, it is derived from Freud and psychoanalytic theorists and aims to bring the unconscious into consciousness to help explore and understand how painful memories may have stayed hidden and look at the ways we may defend against them. My Psychotherapy training (MSc) and ongoing CPD has encompassed a further range of therapies that enable me to integrate them with my core training. They include Systemic Therapy (understanding family systems when working with individuals and couples), Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT), Polyvagal Theory and working with more complex presentations. I am also offer Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR). This enables me to offer a broad range of techniques within my counselling work to raise awareness and understanding for some of the issues that you may be experiencing. I also continue to attend different training courses to ensure that I remain up-to-date with the latest developments in counselling and psychotherapy. I am registered as an accredited member of UKCP and a member of BACP and EMDR Association UK.

Prior to training as a counsellor and psychotherapist, I worked for over 20 years as an IT project manager within the corporate environment, a project manager within education and social enterprises and as Clinical manager for a counselling charity. Working closely with clients and staff within schools to 'think out of the box' in an innovative, creative and motivational way to achieve their potential requires many of the key skills that make a successful counsellor. Alongside private practice, I also work therapeutically with adults, adolescents and couples at a well-established charity offering low-cost and affordable long term therapy. During my psychotherapy training I have also worked offering time-limited therapy within a University Counselling service and for a NHS Counselling service for patients with complex needs. Within the education sector, I have worked with vulnerable families on a number of projects including kinship carer groups and facilitating 'Strengthening Family' courses for adolescents and their parents.