A little bit about me ...

Hi! I'm Bev, a fully qualified and experienced counsellor based in Leeds 16. I’ve lived in Leeds nearly my whole life. I gained a B.Ed. (Hons) in Primary Education from Liverpool JM Uni in 1995, then worked as a primary school teacher in Leeds 16 for almost a decade. Although I enjoyed a lot about teaching, I realised that what I really loved about working with children and young people was listening to them, getting to know what mattered to them, helping them to overcome their difficulties and seeing them develop a sense of belief and pride in themselves. I'd had a long standing interest in mental wellbeing and personal development, so I was excited to take on the role of school co-ordinator for Personal, Social, Health & Citizenship Education. This led to me studying Psychology and later Counselling Skills.

I took time out from teaching to care for my 3 amazing neurodivergent children, and spent several years learning about Autism, Dyslexia and ADHD.

I picked up my Counselling Studies again in 2016 and qualified in 2019 with a Level 4 Diploma in Therapeutic Counselling. I trained with The Market Place Leeds, a local charity supporting young people with their mental and emotional wellbeing. I stayed on as a qualified volunteer and was later employed as a member of the counselling team there until their NHS funding ended in June 2024.

I have also worked with young people and adults in private practice since 2021, and recently joined another local charity -Barca Leeds- as a volunteer counsellor for young people.

I work with a wide variety of issues, but have particular interests in self-esteem, neurodivergence, healthy relationships and issues around gender and sexuality. I have lots of experience of supporting children and young people struggling with emotionally based school anxiety (EBSA) and Special Educational Needs/Disability (SEND) and am passionate about improving access to meaningful, long term mental health support for children, teens, young adults and parents.