Our team of counselling trainers on the Isle of Wight possess high levels of industry experience, allowing us to deliver engaging counselling training that provides you with a formal qualification as well as helping you to understand yourself and others better. Following over a decade of working in public and private sectors and dealing with a broad spectrum of issues, we are now committed to creating an energetic, nurturing environment for people in all fields to develop the counselling skills they need by offering a blend of theory and practical work. Our dedicated staff team have a rich tapestry of experience in the counselling fields including experience is working with offenders, specialist trauma services, managing NHS teams, private practice, groups, couples and children and young people.

Our teaching style is known for its dynamic and engaging style, bringing counselling theory alive. Our philosophy is to help students embody the theory by engaging in group and pairs work, combining the theoretical with the practical.

Trainers

Charlie Gould Smith teaches on our level 3 and level 4 programmes. She has previously worked as a counsellor for a gender identity charity and also Cruse. Charlie is an experienced counsellor who the co-director of the Empathy Project. She teaches on Counselling training programmes for WCTI and for Southampton College. She specialises in working with loss and also working with LGBTQIA+ clients.

Denise Goulding teaches on the level 4 programme. She has worked in private practice for 30 years and is also a parent-child psychotherapist. She has a long history in working with Children's services- supervising social workers and foster carers. She delivers training on trauma and attachment to foster agencies, adoption teams and other organisations.

Jonathan Roddis teaches on our level 3 and level 4 programmes. He has worked as a clinical manager for a therapy centre and as a Lead Clinical supervisor for a national Employment Assistance Programme. He currently a consultant for 3 national charities on mental health. He specialises in working with Personality disorders and relationship issues. He is the lead trainer for WCTI.

Lucy Furness teaches on our level 4 programme. She has worked as a counsellor with an abuse charity and also lectured at Eastleigh College. Lucy runs therapeutic groups and is a qualified wild therapist. She specialises in Gestalt psychotherapy, body orientated work, OCD and Eating Disorders.

Vanessa Bear teaches on our level 4 programme. She is a counsellor for a sexual abuse charity and runs wellbeing retreats for therapists. Vanessa works a lot with body process and issues around self care and burnout. She has co-authored 8 Key ways to safe trauma recovery with Babette Rothschild. She specialises in Yoga therapy and Yogic interventions in Counselling work.

Charlotte Collins is the coordinator at WCTI at teaches non clinically on the level 3 and level 4 programme. Charlotte specialises in research having completed 2 Masters herself. She has previously worked as a coordinator for a counselling charity and also in the educational sector. She has a broad experience of working with diversity issues such as white privilege and the socio-political landscape of the helping professions.

Jeff Lane is a visiting trainer for WCTI. He has worked for 25 years in private practice.He has previously run successful men's therapy groups and for 20 years was resident counsellor at a residential home for those with learning difficulties. He was founder of the centre for Gestalt in organisations training programme.