Louise brings to Beacon House passion, knowledge and experience from the range of settings including the NHS, schools, Social Care, the charity sector and creative arts venues. She is committed and dedicated to offering support and specialist therapy to people of all ages who have experienced interpersonal trauma such as abuse, neglect and domestic violence. She is skilled at working with a range of emotional struggles including self-harm, grief, suicidal ideation, hearing voices, anxiety, low mood, low self-esteem and special educational needs.

Louise had an interesting and diverse journey into becoming a therapist. Prior to training as a Dramatherapist, her background was in acting and arts education, and she discovered a particular interest in the potential power of theatre, creativity and play to support children and young people impacted by trauma.

Louise has since focused her psychotherapy career on working in this area and always aims to have a warm and personable approach, forging healthy relationships with her clients and their families. Louise understands how much courage and resilience it takes to embark on therapy and healing and believes that supporting the people she works with to feel safe and understood is at the heart of any therapeutic support.

Louise has a flexible approach as a therapist and draws on a range of tools to effectively support her clients: this might involve traditional talking therapy, or indirect therapeutic approaches using a range of creative techniques to explore themes and difficulties. Working in this way can allow for some distance between the individual and the pain they are struggling with, which can be useful when working with material that is sensitive and overwhelming.

Louise is always curious about what can emerge in the therapeutic space when given time – she endeavours to shine a light on the aspects of self that may be hidden or misunderstood, drawing on Richard Schwartz’s Internal Family Systems (IFS) Model. Louise works from a position of unconditional positive regard and uses the creative process to empower the healthy, whole part of self, which she believes is in everyone.

Louise is also an experienced Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) practitioner, and she believes this to be a complimentary addition to Dramatherapy. This simple approach is effective in reducing levels of the stress hormone cortisol in the body and shifting negative core beliefs: it can be a powerful technique to support people who have experienced trauma.

Louise deeply values being part of the Beacon House Team and is excited to continuously learn and develop as a therapist, working alongside forward thinking colleagues. She continues to find personal balance through spending time with friends, movement meditation, yoga, attempting to run and walking her dog in nature.

Louise is registered with HCPC as a Dramatherapist – her membership number is AS16809.

  • Dyadic Development Psychotherapy (DDP) Level 1 – The Centre for Emotional Development, Brighton
    September 2022
  • MA Dramatherapy – University of Roehampton
    2017-2019
  • Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) – Martine Moorby, EFT international – Level 2
    2018
  • EMDR Part 2
    Richman EMDR Training, 7 hours, 8th November 2023
  • EMDR Part 1
    Richman EMDR Training, 19th – 21st July 2023
  • Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Training
    Roshmi Lovatt, 28th January 2023
  • Using Polyvagal Theory to Help Children and Young People Overcome Panic and Anxiety
    Child Mental Health centre – 1.5 hours, 1st December 2022
  • Working with Children and Young People who Self-Harm with Reference to eating disorders
    Child Mental Health Centre – 1.5 hours, 20th October 2022
  • BADth Conference
    15 hours, September 2022
  • Addressing trauma-based shame in children and young people who hate themselves
    Child Mental Health Centre – Margot Sunderland, 1.5 hours, 21st July 2022
  • The use of Clay in therapeutic work with families and individuals
    Child Mental Health Centre – Lynne Souter-Anderson, 1.5 hours, 11th July 2022
  • Contextual safeguarding for vulnerable children and adults
    Amanda Radley, 3 hours, 11th May 2022
  • Working with trauma: An introduction to EMDR and how it can combine with arts therapy practices
    BADth/Social Arts Therapy, 5 hours, March 2022
  • CBT for OCD in children and young people
    South West CYP IAPT, 5 hours, January 2022
  • CBT for ASC in children and young people
    South West CYP IAPT, 6 hours, January 2022
  • Working 1:1 with parents
    Family Links, 12 hours, September 2021
  • Helping children and young people talk about their feelings
    Hinton House –  Margot Sunderland, 2 hours, May 2021
  • Working with gender and sexuality
    OCR Bristol, 5 hours, April 2021
  • Using masks in therapy
    NDP – Sue Jennings, 10 hours, March 2021
  • Intercultural good practice
    BADth, 12 hours, November 2019
  • Approach to group therapy with difficult to reach clients
    Roehampton University, 5 hours, September 2019
  • Working with survivors of sexual abuse
    Roehampton University – Christiane Sanderson, 3 hours, September 2019
  • Story Massage
    Story Massage, 12 hours, November 2017
  • Trauma Tapping Technique (TTT) – Emotional first aid for trauma
    Peaceful Heart Network, 5 hours, September 2017