Principal of the Practice

Patricia Furness-Smith M.A., B.A. (Hons.), P.G.C.E., FNCS, J.P. Patricia is responsible for the recruitment, training and supervision of all professional staff. Patricia is a Fellow of the National Counselling Society.

Also, she has achieved 4 awards from the Training and Development Lead Body in the following areas: Skills Assessor; Vocational Assessor; Internal Assessor; Apl Advisor. She has completed the Nocn Drugs Awareness Training.

Patricia has a wide breadth of experience Lecturing in Further and Higher Education covering Psychology, Psychopathology, Teacher Training and Counsellor/Psychotherapist Training over the past 25 years. Also, she is an Examiner, Moderator and Qualification Reviewer in Counselling/Psychotherapy for major Examining Bodies.

She worked as an Associate in an Employee Assistance Programme whose clients include leading Financial Institutions where Post Traumatic Stress and Redundancy Counselling were key features. She is also a Director of an International Online Therapy Service www.web-psychs.com and plays an active role in the Criminal Justice System as a Magistrate.

Patricia has been helping couples experiencing relationship difficulties for over 20 years in the capacity of a counsellor and trainer and continues this work for a leading relationship counselling service. She is also a Member of the Cascade Training Associates Validation Panel www.counsellingsupervisiontraining.co.uk

Patricia's practice has led her to work with a wide range of client groups with a variety of presenting problems. One of her particular interests is in Aerophobia, about which she lectures throughout Great Britain as part of a team helping individuals overcome their fear of flying. www.flyingwithconfidence.com She is a published author of 'Flying with Confidence; The Proven Programme to Fix your Flying Fears' and a guided relaxation cd of the same title. Available Here. Her other main interests lie in Phobias in general, Stress Counselling, and Eating Distress and Phobias. She is the Supervisor of a charity, which supports sufferers of Eating Disorders and their Carers, www.eatingdisorderssupport.co.uk

Practitioners

All counsellors/psychotherapists at Maturus are members of recognised professional bodies making them subject to the professional conduct procedures therein.

All of our personnel adhere to the BACP "Ethical Framework" in which adequate supervision, continuous professional development and professional indemnity insurance are mandatory.

This ensures that our clients receive the highest standard of care.