FOR CLINICIANS AND HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS
The human dimensions of persistent symptoms and healing
I write and speak about persistent physical symptoms, emotional health and relational approaches to care, bringing together lived patient experience and my work as a practitioner and group facilitator.
Seen and held: creating containers for healing. Reflections from chronic illness and recovery.
Journal of Holistic Healthcare and Integrative Medicine, Vol 23, Issue 2, Summer/Autumn 2026, pages 5 to 8.
Written for the journal's trauma-informed care issue, this article draws on my own eight years of persistent symptoms and my work since as a practitioner. It argues that persistent illness can be a source of trauma as well as a consequence of it, that much of the repair therefore has to be relational, and that group-based containers alongside medical care offer a pathway for people the system has run out of options for. It includes early patient activation data from the EAET pilot I co-led at Health All Round in Edinburgh.
“Perhaps trauma-informed healthcare does not begin with another intervention. Perhaps it begins by recognising that we are not ‘doing healing’ to our patients but meeting them as partners in an active and deeply human process.”
SEEN AND HELD
I work with people whose symptoms persist after structural causes have been ruled out: chronic primary pain, fatigue, functional neurological disorder and other persistent physical symptoms. My approach is grounded in Emotional Awareness and Expression Therapy (EAET) and Pain Reprocessing Therapy (PRT), delivered through therapeutic group work, retreats and one-to-one support.
I also work with clinicians and services: mentoring practitioners bringing EAET and mind-body approaches into their settings, and helping teams design and set up group programmes for people with persistent symptoms, with outcome measurement built in.
To reach out, please use the form below. I'd love to connect.
