Relational Best with Amanda Williamson

Are You Ready to Embrace Meaningful Change in Your Life? I offer sessions both online and face-to-face from my dedicated premises on Southernhay East in the center of Exeter, Devon. In this professional and confidential space, you are warmly invited to offload, explore, develop, and discover.  I specialise in working with individuals and relationships  -be they life partners or business partners - who understand the transformative power of structured, meaningful conversations. Together, we will: - Expand your thinking - Clarify your professional and personal goals - Overcome personal obstacles - Explore and realise your full potential Life often presents profound challenges; be it loss, illness, relationship upheavals, career transitions, or episodes of depression and anxiety. Such events compel us to re-examine our ways of being. I invite you to seize these moments as opportunities to embrace change and become the best version of yourself. Alternatively, you might feel the ne...

I’ve seen BC Camplight live three times now. First in 2021, then in 2023. His music and lyrics are richly layered in nuance with a deep undertone of poignant misery. Brian Cristinzio is charismatic, if somewhat self-deprecating, with a vivid sense of dark humour.  This time, I'm going with the intention of writing a review afterwards. It’s the first time I’m doing anything like this, informed by my interest in people and my years of experience working with addiction and trauma. I’ve worked therapeutically with many incredibly creative individuals over the years.   The book  Touched with Fire  explores the link between creativity and mental health suffering and its artistic expression: the anguish, agony, and emotional depth associated with bipolar disorder often finds expression in the art of those who suffer from it. For artists, the illness can be a source of both torment and inspiration. Brian has openly discussed his own struggles with severe depression, anxiety,...

(This article first appeared in the October 2025 issue of Coaching Today , published by the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy. www.bacp.co.uk/bacp-journals/coaching-today/ ©BACP 2025)

I previously wrote about losing my Senior Accreditation with the BACP following the forthcoming implementation of the SCoPEd framework. That experience raised questions about fairness, accessibility and how our professional bodies treat long-serving practitioners. Glencoe last week, having completed my application Last night I handed in my application to upgrade to Senior Accreditation with the NCPS. It's a rigorous process, and the equivalent of a Level 7; seven sections across 8,250 words evidencing my work in the professional community, my understanding of unconscious processes, my experience working with psychopathy, and an academic research proposal. It’s been intense and demanding, and deeply reflective. The process hasn’t been without its challenges. My supervisor of eleven years recently had a stroke and has been unable to provide a written report. Thankfully, my new supervisor is someone who has known me since 2007, and whom I have had peer supervision since I moved into ...

Hello there... I’m Amanda Williamson, and my work sits in that fertile space between therapy and coaching. I very much value seeing how the blended approach is especially helpful in  relationship work . Working with relationships is not the same as working with individuals. It requires specialist training, different skills, and a particular mindset. And for those of us who are dual-qualified; weaving coaching and therapy together in this space, it can  feel like we’re practising at the edges, without much of a community. I’d love that to change. Why Relationship Work Needs Its Own Conversation It’s a different discipline.  Holding two realities in the room and working with the relationship itself (rather than just the individuals) requires additional training and supervision. Too often, people without that grounding “have a go” at couples work, and the results can be unsafe or unhelpful. It requires high standards.  I’ve long campaigned for regulation and accountabil...