Psychotherapy
After 25 years as a writer and lecturer in film and creative writing, I decided to do something I had always wanted to do – train as a psychotherapist.
I began training in 1999 at the Institute of Group Analysis www.igalondon.org.uk and the Turvey Institute of Group Analytic Psychotherapy www.turveygroupwork.co.uk where I qualified with a post-graduate diploma in group analytic psychotherapy. I am a full Member of the Institute of Group Analysis and a registered psychotherapist with the UK Council for Psychotherapy www.psychotherapy.org.uk . I worked for 4 years for the NHS at the Chelsea and Westminster hospital (London) where I conducted psychotherapy groups and saw individual patients. My NHS experience has been an invaluable part of my development as a psychotherapist.
I now have a private psychotherapy practice in Brighton, Kemp Town, where for 3 days a week I run psychotherapy groups and see individual patients for one to one psychodynamic therapy. The rest of the week I keep for my writing.
Writing and Lecturing
After graduating at the Royal College of Art I worked as a freelance writer for film, television and theatre. I have run courses on film and creative writing in the UK, North America and many European countries including for the EU Media Programme for European Screenwriters, the Danish National Film School, the Canadian Centre for Advanced Film Studies and Rice University Texas.
I have written three books about film and screenwriting: ‘Image, Sound and Story’ (Secker and Warburg 1990), ‘Screen Language’ (Methuen 2001) and ‘I Love You But…Seven Decades of Romantic Comedy’ (Methuen 2002) www.methuen.co.uk . I have written more than 30 articles, mainly for The Guardian Comment and The Guardian Woman’s Page www.guardian.co.uk and The Times Comment www.thetimesonline.co.uk . I have also been a guest speaker on BBC Radio 4: Woman’s Hour, Front Row and Back Row.
In 2006 I was invited as a guest speaker at the Institute of Psychiatry Maudsley Debate www.iop.kcl.ac.uk/iopweb/events. In 2008 I will be a keynote speaker for the IGA workshop series ‘Talking about Sex in Groups’. I have also facilitated discussions for the IGA Film Programme and I am currently a member of the IGA Group Analysis Development Committee.