Gill Jackman -- Counsellor: About me

ABOUT GILL

Photograph of Gill Jackman, a counsellor working in the Chew Valley, North Somerset

Iam 49, and have a grown-up daughter. I live in the Chew Valley in North Somerset because, when I'm not working, I like to look at the trees and the fields and live at a quieter, slower pace.

Before becoming a professional counsellor, among many other things, I taught English and worked for a children's charity, housing and supporting young people leaving care. Since, I have spent some time co-ordinating a counselling agency working with survivors of sexual abuse and spent a single term training to be a midwife within the NHS.

I started training as a counsellor in 1993. For the last seventeen years I have worked mainly with individuals, although I've continued to work for social services providing counselling for foster care users and running support groups for people trying to come off drugs.

I've also spent a great deal of time writing, and have excerpts in pdf form at the bottom of most of these webpages. I hope that this will enable you to get a better sense of me if that is helpful in your search for a counsellor. I am also a practitioner of Zen buddhism, having always been fascinated by the power of our perceptions and beliefs in shaping the stories we live in. In fact, I believe it is the way we see these 'life-narratives' as ultimate truth that can often be at the source of major difficulties.

The search for meaning in our lives is, I believe, a lifelong one and the longer I live, the more there seems to be to explore. Meditation is one way of deconstructing our experience, so we can really see how we are looking at things. Counselling is another.

I consider hearing the details of other people's lives to be a privilege.

My qualifications are:
BA Women and Literature (Univ. Lanc.)
MA Creative Writing (Univ. Lanc)
Cert. Teach. Adult and Further Ed.
Cert. Counselling skills (Two year course - Univ. Bristol)
Post-Grad. Diploma in Counselling (Two year course - Univ. Bristol)
MSc. Counselling and Methodology (Univ. Bristol)
Certificate in Supervision (Univ. Bristol)
Certificate in Group Process (Institute Group Analysis)
Certificate in Working With Couples (Jill Gabriel and David Slattery)

I am fully accredited as a counsellor by the BACP and have been practicing 17 years.