Counselling International
The professional
I was born and raised in Holland, but started to explore the world from age 20. Since then I have lived in several European countries, the Middle East and the Far East (including 25 years in Japan). I married, raised two children in Tokyo, divorced, and more recently happily remarried/resettled in my native country.
I have been variously employed in banking, tourism, airline, education, counselling and research; learning several languages and studying extensively, gaining further credentials through the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow (Postgraduate Diploma in Person-Centred Counselling & Master of Philosophy for research in the Department of Educational Studies). In recent years I qualified as Mediator and completed the Specialisation: Existential Psychotherapy.
Having experienced the corporate/ex-pat world both first- and second hand, I frequently managed to adjust to foreign cultures, as well as an even more difficult readjustment to my own culture after prolonged absence.
As counsellor/psychotherapist I have worked in Tokyo and Glasgow in settings such as a public counselling and private practice, student counselling, Social Work and NHS Health Centres - with clients from all walks of life and with diverse problems. In Holland too, clients are from different backgrounds or nationality and present with such variety of issues as human beings can encounter.
As member of BACP (the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy) I work according to their Ethical Framework for Good Practice in Counselling and Psychotherapy in order to ensure the highest standard of practice possible.
My other professional affiliations are:
- NVPA (Nederlands Verbond van Psychologen, Psychotherapeuten en Agogen)
- VCgP (Dutch Association for Client-centered Psychotherapy)
- WAPCEPC (World Association for Person-Centered and Experiential Psychotherapy and Counseling)
- NMI (the Dutch Mediation Institute) as registered Mediator
- NIP (Nederlands Instituut van Psychologen) Section Mediation
All provide useful opportunity for ongoing professional development.