Hi, I'm Mel
I’m originally from Staffordshire, but lived in Australia and New Zealand for a while, and now live in Bristol. I’ve worked in the charity/mental health sector for about ten years, working for counselling charities and eating disorder services.
I was the Office Manager for a large counselling service, before finally embarking on my own counselling training – something I didn’t rush into as I knew how intense it would be! I started right at the very beginning (always the best way in my view) with an introductory 10-week Listening Skills course. It was brilliant so I managed to scrape together the finances to do a one-year Foundation Certificate at the same place. Counselling training can involve a lot of costs, which can be a barrier for many, but there are a number of different pathways. If you’re interested in reading my experiences of training and working in the counselling field, I wrote a blog about it here.
I went on to do a degree in Counselling and Therapeutic Practice (at the time of writing I’m soon to go into my final year) and will be qualifying in the Spring/Summer of 2023. I will be taking clients in private practice from then, but for now I offer body image 1:1 support sessions (not counselling but more like coaching/mentoring – find out more here) and I run workshops too.
I was the Office Manager for a large counselling service, before finally embarking on my own counselling training – something I didn’t rush into as I knew how intense it would be! I started right at the very beginning (always the best way in my view) with an introductory 10-week Listening Skills course. It was brilliant so I managed to scrape together the finances to do a one-year Foundation Certificate at the same place. Counselling training can involve a lot of costs, which can be a barrier for many, but there are a number of different pathways. If you’re interested in reading my experiences of training and working in the counselling field, I wrote a blog about it here.
I went on to do a degree in Counselling and Therapeutic Practice (at the time of writing I’m soon to go into my final year) and will be qualifying in the Spring/Summer of 2023. I will be taking clients in private practice from then, but for now I offer body image 1:1 support sessions (not counselling but more like coaching/mentoring – find out more here) and I run workshops too.
I have a passion for learning about eating disorders, body image and weight stigma, which I’ve very much thrown myself into in the last 5 or so years! I gained a lot of experience working as an Assessor for an eating disorder charity, and I’ve also been a Befriender, a workshop facilitator and now a counsellor in placement too. My passion and drive comes partly from my own difficult experiences with food and body image. Part of my own continued learning journey is being able to share my lived experience, mixed with my professional experience, with others. I am passionate about helping others understand body image and eating distress on a deeper level, to enable them to challenge their perceptions, assumptions and internalised fatphobia. I personally found that learning about wider societal expectations and inequalities, as well as past experiences and trauma, can help build an understanding as to why we struggle with body image. Knowing all of this can help us be more compassionate to ourselves.
My other work, which I’m equally as passionate about, is as a group facilitator on a Domestic Violence Perpetrator Program. I’ve learnt such a lot from doing this work, about behavioural change approaches, about empathy and the nuances of humanity, about myself and my facilitation/training style, and so much more. I am very much in support of perpetrator programs and therapeutic interventions for people using abusive, anti-social or harmful behaviour. I firmly believe that people are not simply “good” and “bad”; what we see as “bad behaviour” is a way of coping and dealing with pain in their own lives (or past). I am passionate about helping and supporting people who others may judge, stigmatize and cast out as “untreatable” or not worthy of help. Working on a perpetrator program helps take a bigger picture approach to domestic violence and abuse, by moving beyond the reactionary system currently in place, which often involves helping victims leave. This just means the perpetrator (and victim) may be drawn into other abusive relationships in the future, so this approach isn’t always helping break cycles. Helping perpetrators reflect on and change their behaviour is a vital longer-term approach to help break cycles of abuse, ultimately helping the next generations to come.
I am also a writer and have written fiction, articles, blogs etc, and I run creative writing workshops for people affected by homelessness. This is such important work as I feel writing is therapeutic and can be such a great tool for helping process emotions. I also co-run storytelling nights which allow the opportunity for people to build confidence reading their work to an audience. To find out more, click here.
In my personal life, I love cold water swimming (yes, in Winter in the UK – brrrr!), Italian food, anything to do with drag, and wearing sequins at any opportunity. I love expressing myself with bold clothes and accessories, and sometimes this involves wearing things that bigger people are often told “shouldn’t” wear. I am passionate about helping those in larger bodies build confidence and self-acceptance, and I’m learning more every day about inclusion, “diversity” and “otherness”, i.e. race, culture, gender, disability, and all the other intersecting factions of humans that make us unique, but that also sadly cause such pain for many. I see my future as a therapist as a way to help walk alongside others to be able to support, listen and really hear what’s going on for you, to allow space to process, understand and heal. I aim to be as adaptable as possible; counselling is your space, so it needs to be tailored to you. Counselling for me is part of social justice, helping bring a little more kindness and compassion into the world.
Thank you for reading, I hope this has given some insight into my values and passions. Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you’d like to work with me or if you have any questions.
Thank you for reading, I hope this has given some insight into my values and passions. Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you’d like to work with me or if you have any questions.
