About Simon

My story:

I worked for a housing trust, working with men with mental health problems and histories of homelessness. I enjoyed an active life, physically and socially; playing tennis, football, sailing. I enjoyed working with the clients, utilising my training as a counsellor.

However I became more and more involved in the management side of things, (which on reflection wasn’t what really interested me), ending up being the Director of the Trust and did a thorough job of running myself into the ground.

The result was that in November 1997, I went off sick and remained unable to work for the next 8 years, suffering from ME/CFS.

Life was pretty grim.

I spent a lot of the next 3 years barely living; just eating and sleeping.

I would feel terribly tired when I ate any food and developed sensitivities to food. Like many people with ME/CFS, I tried many approaches, including acupuncture, herbalism, nutrition, cognitive behavioural therapy, even colonic irrigation!

Candida and leaky gut syndrome was identified and I took supplements and avoided certain foods, which helped to some degree. However I was still not well and lead a severely restricted life.

In May 2005 I decided to do a training programme designed to teach people about mind/body techniques..

Just a few weeks before, I had been on holiday in Spain, feeling very poorly, with the familiar pattern of slightly overdoing it, and then feeling exhausted.

The tools I learned were extraordinary, for the first time I felt that I had a good understanding of why I remained ill, what I needed to do to regain my health and the sense that my recovery was in my hands.

The approach recognises that ME/CFS is a very real physical condition, however our mind and body powerfully influence each other. It completely changed the way I thought about the condition and felt I made a steady improvement in my health.

People noticed a difference in me. I was able to do things that before would have seemed inconceivable, and was able to be more physically active.

I always had the sense that I would train in whatever was the key to helping me improve my health, and so in September of the same year, I embarked on the training course, so that I could teach people these techniques, which is a GREAT job to have.

CV

• Diploma in Life Coaching, Clinical Hypnotherapy and Neuro-Linguistic Programming
• Advanced Diploma in Life Coaching, Clinical Hypnotherapy and Neuro-Linguistic Programming
• Counselling: 4 year course at City University, London
• Degree in Human Ecology BSc at Huddersfield Polytechnic
• Member of the British Institute of Hypnotherapy

Work Experience
I qualified as a Counsellor in 1993, I have practices in East Dulwich, Central London, and Putney.

I have over 15 years experience helping people make changes, building confidence and developing self esteem, and overcoming limitations, eg social phobias, agrophobia.

I spent 10 years working in the mental health field, working for a Housing Trust, supporting people with mental health problems; schizophrenia, depression, anxiety. I devised and delivered training programmes on various areas of training including: anxiety management, team development, communication skills, building self esteem, assertiveness.

I have experience of working with children, including 2 years of working on summer camps in America as a camp counsellor.