About

Hi… I’m Gemma

I’m originally from England but moved to Aberdeenshire in 2010. I’m almost over the shock of the first winter! I’m married and have two children. I love music, gigs, dancing, travel and food.

I trained as a Physiotherapist 25 years ago and had the privilege of working within the NHS most of my adult life. I gained a wide experience in an acute setting (in a hospital) in my early years of practice and went on to work in a neuro out-patient department.

I spent a large part of my career however being a physiotherapist in the community – visiting people in their homes. Here I became a ‘jack of all trades’ as community physios treat a wide variety of conditions. My work also helped me to see the person behind the illness, to notice how a person’s health is about more than fixing a body part and started me on the journey to where I am today. My mantra became “What has happened to you” rather than “What is wrong with you”.

Supporting people with long term conditions inevitably led me to developing my empathy and listening skills. I discovered I was good at it, I enjoyed it but even more importantly, it made a difference to a person’s care and their experience of my intervention.

My Journey…

I wanted to develop myself in this area and so in 2015 I trained as a counsellor at Abertay University, qualifying in 2018 and went on to worked in charities in Aberdeen and Dundee throughout my training and over the following 5 years. I left the NHS in 2021 to pursue my counselling career.

As I developed as a counsellor, I was able to make more sense of how a person’s life experiences and their emotional landscape effects not only their mental health but also their physical well-being (and vice versa!). I also became aware of the impact of trauma on the body, and I have since read and studied extensively in this area. Noticing the effects of trauma, chronic stress, ACES and the impact this can have physically and mentally completely changed my approach to helping a person both as a physio and a counsellor.

I have a special interest in chronic pain, chronic fatigue, stress, grief, health and anxiety and my ongoing development and additional training (below) reflects this. I enjoy utilizing my knowledge of polyvagal theory and neuroscience as well as harnessing the body’s ability to regulate itself when supporting a person. I incorporate somatic practices into my work.

My interest in the Mindbody connection has really become embedded through what my clients and patients have taught me as well as recognising how it shows up in my own life. I have lived experience of post-natal depression, anxiety, grief, burnout and episodes of chronic pain. Becoming much more aware of how these experiences not only shaped me but also impacted my own health has been vital in embedding my understanding and informing my empathy and way of being as a counsellor.

Qualifications and training:

BSc (Hons) Physiotherapy 2:1 – University of Hertfordshire

PGDip Pluralistic Counselling (Distinction) – Abertay University.

Certificate in on-line and telephone counselling – Counselling Tutor

SIRPA Practitioner (for details: www.sirpa.org)

Emotional awareness and expression therapy training(for details see: Emotional Awareness and Expression Therapy for Chronic Pain – Dr. Howard Schubiner’s Mind Body Medicine)

Pain Re-processing therapy – on going (for details see Pain Reprocessing Therapy)

PPD Practitioner (for details see: www.ppdassociation.org/)

Explain pain course – (for details see www.noigroup.com/about/

EDMR training commencing March 2025

Capacitar Practitioner. For details see www.capacitaruk.org/

Exercise to Music Instructor – Level 2

Two 6 week Mindfulness courses completed: Mindfulness for stress and Mindfulness for Health (for details see Breathworks – Mindfulness and Compassion Training)

6 week Bereavement counselling training by John Wilson (for details see: Training for Bereavement Counselling Course with Dr. John Wilson, PhD. – Onlinevents)

Caroline Spring’s Trauma trainings – various (for details see: Trauma training – client-centred courses rooted in empathy and compassion)

My work is informed by research, writings and academia from:
Gabor Mate, Bessel Van der Kolk, Mark Wolynn, Pat Ogden, Dan Siegal, Steve Levine, Judith Herman, Janina Fisher, Babette Rothschild, John Sarno, Harold Schubinar, Dave Clark, Alan Gordon, Deb Danar, Stephen Porges, Donna Jackson Nakazawa, John Wilson, Julia Samuel, Kristen Neff. And many more.

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