Further Experiential Learning
Compassionate Focused Therapy - Paul Gilbert
Polyvagal Theory - Deb Dana
Voice Dialogue - Hal and Sidra Stone
Holotropic Breathing - Deb and Holly Harman
Living Tantra - Jan Day
Archetypal Astrology - Renn Butler
About Rosa
I am a humanistic relational therapist, which, simply put, means that I hold the value that everyone has within themselves the wisdom and healing capacity to grow towards health and wholeness and that it is within a loving yet boundaried relationship that this reparative work best takes place.
I have been a therapist since my mid-twenties, drawn to the role after having received many years of therapy myself and from being alongside people close to me as they moved towards death, birthed new life, or experienced spiritual emergencies. As a new mother and reflexologist, I specialised in working with pregnant women and other new mothers, and as a trauma-informed counsellor with my own emerging teens, I worked with young people, sometimes with their caregivers, as they navigated the rite of passage that is adolescence. I have also participated in and facilitated women's circles all this time, including circles for young women and their mothers as they prepare for menarche.
These twenty years of personal and professional experience have instilled in me a deep reverence for the mystery of life, the place of rites and ritual, and the unseen tides of the spirit and psyche that call to each of us to attend to the deeper stirrings of that which is unresolved, so that we can grow in awareness and fulfilment and so that we may feel more at peace in ourselves and our relationships.
I have worked for sexual health, abuse and trauma recovery, community adult and young people's counselling agencies, as well as children's residential services and an HIV/AIDS charity. I have designed and delivered training on different aspects of mental health and held lead therapist, clinical lead, and supervisor roles.
During the pandemic, I decided to step away from services and work as an independent psychotherapist, supervisor, and group facilitator. In 2021, two colleagues and I set up a therapy centre, The Bird House, in Falmouth, which is now the working home and hub for 20 different body and talking therapists and a wonderfully supportive community to work within. This also means I am now free to work in an open-ended way with individuals in psychotherapy and supervision to facilitate more groups, offer workshops at festivals, hold space on retreats, and weave in expanded state preparation and integration for anyone seeking this.
My commitment to my own inner healing, learning, and growth has been woven through my life and symbiotically informs my work. These practices primarily include meditation and ritual; dance and yoga; and painting and weaving. Connections with loved ones and nature are the other essentials for my care of myself and my soul. Expanded state experiences have been impactful and deeply healing for me. I know how it feels to immerse in this territory both in safety and out of it, and so consideration of the safety, ethics, and reciprocity in this exploratory field is paramount to me, as is a reverence for the plants and practices that can support us.
Qualifications
BA Communications with Linguistics, University of Leeds
Diploma in Reflexology, The Bayley School
Level 5 Professional Diploma in Person Centred Counselling and Therapy, Plymouth University
Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT) Accredited Training, Anna Freud Centre
IPT Supervision Training, Anna Freud Centre
Transactional Analysis foundation and applied training, The Link Centre
Group Facilitation, Embodied Relational Training School
Diploma in Professional Supervision, National Counselling Society/Online Therapy Institute
2 year Depth Relational Training, Institute of Psychedelic Therapies (ongoing)
“My daughter is in a completely in a different place from where she was 2 years ago. I cannot thank you enough."
“I used to associate myself with the word ‘overwhelmed’ and I’d shut down; now I can navigate my way through my emotions and understand them. Rosa never pushed me to talk about anything I didn’t want to, she challenged me in a reassuring way so that I knew I could stop or I could join her in asking myself questions I didn’t realise I needed answers to.”
“In retrospect I can see I thought my trip would bring only blissful insights. But it actually also showed me stuff I wasn’t really prepared for. I am so glad I had somewhere to go with this where I could make sense of it knowing I wouldn’t be judged."
“From the get-go, I felt comfortable and safe enough to be vulnerable and honest. I wanted to understand and process a previous abusive relationship I was in and throughout my two years of seeing Rosa, I came to understand other relationships in my life that also had an effect on my thinking/feeling processes.”
“No emotion was too ugly to share. Our weekly sessions transformed the way I see myself and the way in which I show up in the world. ”
“Before, I lived mostly in my head and felt like I was operating from the neck up, but through our sessions, I’ve learned to trust myself to feel things without falling apart.”
“I feel lighter, like I’ve released something I had been carrying for years. The real healing happened in the weeks after though, through our integration work.”
" You have been a constant support for me through a really challenging period of loss, grief and anxiety. You didn’t rush me or ask me to be anywhere other than where I was. I will miss our sessions deeply, but I’ve reached a point where I know I can cope.”
FAQs
I began practicing as a reflexologist in 2004 and as a talking therapist in 2011.
I am fully accredited with the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) and adhere to their ethical guidelines. I am also a member of the Institute for Psychedelic Therapies (IPT).