Awarding Body Feedback
It is clear that this is a strong tutoring team. They work collaboratively and supportively together to provide candidates with a positive and professional experience.
The tutors understand the procedures for reasonable adjustments and special considerations, ensuring that the relevant level and type of support is offered to candidates, as required.
The Centre is well appointed and resourced; training materials are under constant review and development. Recruitment, retention and achievement levels are very high.
Internal policies are constantly being reviewed and improved.
(CPCAB, November 2018)
Sarah Henry
My name is Sarah and I’m a tutor in training at Counselling Training the Midlands. I started my life at CTTM back in 2015 as a student then embraced the incredible opportunity of becoming a tutor at the end of 2018.
I realised that the thing I loved was called counselling back in 2012. My route to qualification was unconventional but was always focused on my obsession with human behaviour, my fascination in the power of the mind and my desire to help. In my teens I’d often indulge in programmes on extraordinary people, captivated by phenomenal memories, stories of overcoming adversity and medical marvels that science couldn’t understand. Cool for a seventeen year old right(?)
In my 20s I remember sharing a heartfelt “thank you” with my own counsellor. Her being part of my journey had made such a huge difference in my life. Suddenly all the pieces fell into place: “If I can retire having helped even one person like THAT, my work life will be worthwhile”.
I managed to juggle working and motherhood with university and achieved my Bachelors degree in Psychology in 2017. Diving into the many different psychological disciplines constantly kept me hungry to learn more. Although my degree wasn’t necessary for a career in counselling (the unconventional route I mentioned!) it has definitely scaffolded my diploma. It has put my learning into a wider context of psychology and the understanding of human behaviour and development.
I completed my diploma with Counselling Training The Midlands in 2018. Along with my British Sign Language qualification and my lifelong exposure to deaf culture I have a huge interest and passion for counselling for deaf and hard of hearing clients. I also have a passion for bright colours; nail varnish, stationary, socks… the list is endless.
Sarah Pettifer
I was initially drawn to counselling as being one of life’s natural listeners, people would often thank me for listening to them and valued that above any other job role I might be in at the time. After some soul searching and experience of my own personal therapy I gained the confidence to apply to study counselling and the rest is history…
For me training as a counsellor has added greater self-awareness and discernment in my relationships, my personal boundaries are much firmer and I am, as a consequence, much happier and better at saying no when I need to!
CTTM has an excellent reputation for producing robustly trained counsellors, devoted to working ethically and with integrity. I love working at a centre that encourages the individuality of each learner and honours the diversity of human experience.
My own areas of practice have meant that I have worked with a number of people who have experienced Trauma in their early lives, I continue to find this area both interesting and rewarding. I am also experienced at working with individuals either in current Addiction or past Addiction and continue to gather statistics showing the effectiveness of Person Centred Therapy on this client group.
I have completed yoga teacher training at a basic level and have also studied meditation and spiritual practices across many cultures and have facilitated groups around these areas. I have worked with charities such as YMCA, where I hold the post of Counsellor and Mental Health Facilitator, and MIND and more local services like Muddy Boots and Heads Together to improve the lives of people dealing with depression and anxiety.
I am an avid Pokémon fan, with my all-time favourite being Eevee.
Jonno Ward
My name is Jonno and I am a tutor at Counselling Training the Midlands. Since 2012 I have trained candidates ranging from introductory courses to qualification and beyond and the bulk of my work currently is with the Level 4 Diploma. I am also Director of Training and this means that I have oversight of all levels of training.
I have trained counsellors privately and I have my own independent practice, and I have until very recently chaired the board of trustees of a local counselling charity. I have a First Class Honours degree in International Studies with Political Science and two university-awarded academic prizes (including the Birmingham Chamber of Commerce Prize) to my name.
I was drawn to counselling, and training counsellors, in several ways. My earliest nickname (at six months old) apparently stemmed from the way my eyes curiously scrutinised everyone who came into contact with me, and this developed into a keen fascination about what made people tick, why some people seemed so complicit in their own unhappiness, and what, if anything could be done to help alleviate such distress.
Having myself had counselling as a twenty-something, and experiencing how spellbinding the process of being professionally supported felt, I decided I wanted in on that magic too.
I finished my diploma training in 2009 and my Level 5 the year after that, and I have a particular interest in how sociology and counselling interrelate.
I adore travelling and have thus far hit six out of seven continents. I guess I’m curious still…
Cathi Young
My name is Cathi and I am a tutor at Counselling Training the Midlands. My background is in early childhood education and I have been training adults for almost 20 years mostly in child development.
I have collaborated with the University of Cambridge writing and delivering a course on children’s independent learning launched in 2006, which has been the central training resource in a 30 hour advanced professional certificate course, sponsored by Cambridgeshire Local Authority. I recently welcomed the opportunity to train counsellors after qualifying myself in 2018 because it combines my expertise and my passion.
I have always been interested in how children develop and learn and counselling seemed to me to be an extension of that because children grow up! I’ve always been fascinated by human relationships and how people think and behave and the way they interact with others and the world.
After experiencing different types of counselling, I knew that I wanted to train as a Person Centred counsellor because this resonated with what I believed about how people heal. I volunteer as a counsellor at a charity where I am on the management committee.
I have a degree in fine art, a post grad certificate in education and a Diploma in Counselling all of which I bring to my role as a trainer in one way or another. I still enjoy sculpting when I get time but when I don’t I design big interactive works for public spaces in a tiny sketch book!
Awarding Body Feedback
We discussed matters including: The candidates high regard for the service offered at CTTM. The “professionalism and passion” of the Tutors and the confidence that each of them has in the training being offered was expressed by all present. Three of them shared their experience of previous training providers as being “shallow” in comparison to that being experienced at CTTM.
(CPCAB, November 2018)