I was born in Germany, grew up in the south of France and qualified as a clinical psychologist in Britain. Following my school education at international schools in France and Germany, I moved to the UK to do a 4-year undergraduate Masters degree at the University of Manchester (MPsy), which included spending the 3rd year at the Université du Mirail in Toulouse. After 2 years gaining experience as an assistant psychologist in the NHS as well as in the independent sector, I enrolled in the 3-year Oxford Doctoral Course in Clinical Psychology (DClinPsych), validated by the University of Oxford and funded by the NHS, which I completed in 2006. I started my career as a fully qualified psychologist at the Tavistock Centre, where I supplemented my education with a Postgraduate Certificate in Applied Systemic Theory. Following my move back to the south of France, I trained in EMDR at the Institut Français d'EMDR and obtained accreditation in 2019.
Prior to doctoral training I worked as a researcher in a medium secure mental health unit and as a psychologist in an independent therapy and assessment centre, providing therapy and comprehensive court reports around issues of trauma and family functioning. The Oxford doctoral training included 4 obligatory six-month placements in the core areas of adult mental health both in- and out-patient, children and adolescents, older adults and learning disabilities, as well as 2 elective six-month placements where I worked with displaced and traumatised children and in an adult brief psychodynamic therapy centre. My doctoral research focused on developing a conceptual framework for play therapy.
During my time at the Tavistock Centre in London I worked as part of a child protection multi-agency liaison team, an early years children’s centre and perinatal services, community child and adolescent mental health services and a refugee team. Much of this work centred on the impact of trauma on individuals and their families and so I worked with both children and adults. I opened my own practice in the south of France in May 2010 and have continued working with people regardless of age, considering both the impact of trauma and the ressources within the system.
I am fluent in English, French and German. My varied personal and professional experiences enable me to provide high quality, relevant and culturally sensitive services in different languages to the people living and working in the intercultural environment of the French Riviera.
Prior to doctoral training I worked as a researcher in a medium secure mental health unit and as a psychologist in an independent therapy and assessment centre, providing therapy and comprehensive court reports around issues of trauma and family functioning. The Oxford doctoral training included 4 obligatory six-month placements in the core areas of adult mental health both in- and out-patient, children and adolescents, older adults and learning disabilities, as well as 2 elective six-month placements where I worked with displaced and traumatised children and in an adult brief psychodynamic therapy centre. My doctoral research focused on developing a conceptual framework for play therapy.
During my time at the Tavistock Centre in London I worked as part of a child protection multi-agency liaison team, an early years children’s centre and perinatal services, community child and adolescent mental health services and a refugee team. Much of this work centred on the impact of trauma on individuals and their families and so I worked with both children and adults. I opened my own practice in the south of France in May 2010 and have continued working with people regardless of age, considering both the impact of trauma and the ressources within the system.
I am fluent in English, French and German. My varied personal and professional experiences enable me to provide high quality, relevant and culturally sensitive services in different languages to the people living and working in the intercultural environment of the French Riviera.