Angie Denman

Personal Profile

I began the path that has led to where I am now by undertaking a degree in Psychology. From my teenage years I wanted to understand people and why they do/feel what they do so my degree choice was the first step. At that point I intended to go into educational psychology but for various reasons that didn't happen. I then spent some time doing voluntary work for MIND and Age Concern whilst considering my next choice.

This was to do a graduate orientated Registered General Nurse training where along with learning new skills I began to use and value my knowledge about people which up to this point was mostly theoretical apart from my own personal life. On qualifying I worked in Health Care of the Elderly and then in a research post. I felt very positive about what I was doing but knew I didn't want to stay there. I decided to specialize and chose the two areas I'd felt most suited me in my training- psychiatric nursing and midwifery. I applied for both and was accepted for midwifery and so trained as a midwife- the day I began I was offered a place in psychiatric nursing too but I decided to stay with my choice which I’ve never regretted.

In my years as a midwife I experienced many professional opportunities as part of my role including parentcraft teaching, antenatal work, breast feeding promotion and teaching, research, all aspects of clinical work working alongside a multidisciplinary team within the hospital and the community. That’s the professional description, what I did in fact do was practise my clinical skills whilst experiencing my own development in the context of forming open and intimate relationships with women and their families during this unique time in their lives. This included so much more than the actual process of becoming a parent physically because it included how each individual (mother, father, children, friends etc.) developed and responded psychologically. Most of the experiences would be considered happy outcomes but some of the paths to this were difficult medically and psychologically. I worked with parents experiencing loss at every stage of the process. I worked with parents with other mental and physical health problems. I also, as part of my role, taught student midwives, nurses and doctors. This part of my life has given me many skills and experiences which I have since drawn on in my counselling work. Also as a midwife bound to the ethics and rules of my profession I have always worked as an advocate for my client, as a midwife, the client is the focus of care and always comes first even if this means challenging other professionals. This is of course the person-centred counselling approach so I have been working in this way for many years.

Ten years ago my life changed when I experienced a significant event in my own health. This led to me losing my role as a midwife and put me in the position of looking at my life and making decisions about what directions I could take within this new ongoing context. At this point I had experienced a number of years in personal counselling myself and felt it had changed my life in many ways and that it was something that I could do. I found myself returning to my inner personal drive to understand people and undertook my training as a counsellor.

My counselling training was integrative but focussed on the person-centred approach which I chose because of my own experience and now deeply held acceptance that every individual is a unique being who is evolving during their life to become all that they can and want to be. I feel that Rogers’ approach that we are inherently good (though I dislike using such a black and white duality- it is how he conceived it) and that what happens to us from birth has an input into who we become is the best place to begin. I also share his ideology that change is always possible for everyone and that with support every individual is capable of solving their problems and resolving their issues in order to live what they perceive and choose to be a better quality of life.

During my training and since I have worked for Cruse doing bereavement counselling and for Mosaic counselling people with ongoing chronic health and disability issues (including mental health). It is during this work that I have enhanced my experience of using my counselling approach.

To summarise my professional approach then is to say it is humanistic and based upon the person-centred ideology but evolves for me every time I begin working with a new client because every client teaches me more about counselling and also myself (as I work in supervision).
 

Work Approach

My therapeutic approach is humanistic and essentially Person-centred (although I have an interest in the Existential and Gestalt approaches also and hope to follow this up as my counselling career develops further). My work so far has confirmed my ideals that when counselling someone it is necessary to work with the whole person always, whatever the reason that they have initially sought help, because everything about someone contributes to who they are. The variety of clients I have worked with has also taught me that when offering the core conditions (empathy, genuineness, unconditional respect/caring) change is always possible.

The counselling that I practice then gives my clients the opportunity to talk in confidence to someone about their concerns and to be sure of being heard. Hopefully, in being able to share thoughts and feelings, working through them will bring a level of new understanding.
I feel strongly that counselling is not about being told what to do or given advice but about finding ways to make changes and move forward in life when the client feels ready to do so having explored any choices made in a safe environment.

Such counselling hopefully helps the individual to get in touch with feelings (possibly previously unknown or unexpressed) and enables him/her to come to terms with them. It aims to enable him/her to feel more empowered within whatever situation they find themselves. For example, after a bereavement or any other life event, some of these feelings may be very strong or feel overwhelming at times. In my role as a counsellor I hope to support them enabling them to cope.

As a member of the BACP and with my experience within the NHS I have always worked with a code of ethics and practice that safeguards both myself and my clients. I feel strongly that as therapeutic workers within/supporting an overall health care system counsellors should have a system of evaluating their work in place when working with clients and continue to update/enhance their skills as professionals.