Since qualifying Roy has always been drawn to working with people with varying degrees of trauma and complex trauma. Today he still works in an NHS setting which offers a service unique in the UK for 11-18 year olds with complex needs at risk of placement breakdown. Here he learned the importance of joined-up working methodologies and inter-subjective thinking as not only a container for the young person, but the whole family. This holistic approach to treatment and care is exactly what brought him to Beacon House.

As a Drama and Movement Therapist Roy’s work is underpinned and informed by the ‘Hero’ archetype and the journey each hero must take; so whether we are the toddler crawling away from the mother and looking over our shoulder, Perseus slaying Medusa or Little Red Riding Hood leaping from the belly of the Big Bad Wolf – every Hero’s journey is about taking a risk, overcoming an obstacle and returning transformed. Dramatherapy allows this journey to happen in every session; obliquely through an enactment, or more directly by listening, talking and being present. Just walking across the threshold of the consulting room is the beginning of a hero’s journey and the transformation and healing starts right there.

Roy is also an Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing Practitioner* (EMDR). This is a very specific trauma treatment that is used in PTS, PTSD, phobias and complex trauma. Roy has been successful in interweaving EMDR within the Dramatherapy process and also as a stand-alone intervention in the treatment of complex trauma and personality disorder.
Roy is a great believer in ‘Help for the Helper’ and’ Care for the Carer’ and it was this philosophy and early training with Babette Rothschild that led him to consolidate his learning and become a Clinical Supervisor. For many years now Roy has applied and developed his learning to consult to teams in Care Homes and Organisations all over the south, as well as developing parents and carers groups within the NHS.

In his spare time Roy commits to the ‘healthy body, healthy mind’ paradigm by attending Pilates classes and daily swims. He is a passionate cook and enjoys all aspects live performance and Art. Happiness is a walk along Brighton Beach with his dog Nancy.

*Roy is fully trained in EMDR and is currently undergoing registered practitioner status.

  • MA Drama and Movement Therapy (Sesame)
    CCSD/London University (2004)
  • PG Cert’, Clinical Supervision – Integrative and Psychoanalytic Approaches
    Surrey University (2010)
  • BA Theatre Arts
    Bretton Hall College of the University of Leeds (1996)
  • Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Dissociative Disorders (SCID-D)
    Remy Aquerone, The Pottergate Centre, 25th January 2021, 22nd February 2021 and 22nd March 2021
  • Self-care for adoptive parents and our organisation
    Beacon House Inhouse Training, 26th February 2020
  • County lines and safeguarding
    Beacon House Inhouse Training, 15th January 2020
  • The dynamic maturational model of attachment across the lifespan
    Dr Ben Grey, Dept of Attachment Studies, University of Roehampton (one day, May 2019)
  • Dealing with sistress: Working with self-harm and suicide
    Saturday June 30th 2018, PODS (Positive Outcomes for Dissociative Survivors) with Caroline Spring
  • Working with dissociative disorders in clinical practice
    Saturday April 28th 2018, PODS (Positive Outcomes for Dissociative Survivors) with Caroline Spring
  • Safeguarding children
    Surrey & Borders NHS Trust,2017
  • Trauma and attachment congress
    New York 20th, 21st & 22nd October 2017
  • International trauma recovery summit
    Belfast, 27th & 28th June 2018
  • DBT (Dialectical Behaviour Therapy) level 1
    APT Training, Surrey 2016
  • EMDR levels 1, 2 & 3
    Alexandra Richman, London 2015/2016
  • Safe Trauma Therapy “Putting on the brakes”
    Babette Rothschild. Chiron Centre London (2006).