Relational Best with Amanda Williamson

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 p...

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 couples  -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 need for...

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...

I write out of deep concern for the way artificial intelligence is heading and what it might mean for us all as human beings. For many years I have worked as a counsellor and coach and campaigned for regulation in my profession. I know what it means when systems fail to protect the vulnerable and when human dignity is ignored. Today I see a greater and more far reaching risk with AI. If we are not careful, this technology could erode what makes us truly human; our kindness, our ability to connect, our very sense of choice. In 1739,  David Hume , in his Treatise of Human Nature, argued that morality arises from human feeling, particularly sympathy, which he saw as the foundation of our ethical responses to others. His recognition that partiality limits sympathy laid early groundwork for understanding how excluding others from our moral concern enables dehumanisation.  In 2011 I saw an episode of SouthPark entitled Funnybot. Funnybot was created to be funnier than anyone on eart...

I provide therapeutic coaching for individuals who identify as neurodivergent, including those with ADHD, autism spectrum differences, or other forms of neurodiversity. My work is grounded in a relational and pluralistic approach that respects the uniqueness of each person's experience. Coaching can be beneficial to those who are wired to think outside of the box. There are many benefits to thinking differently but there can also be challenges that can be explored and navigated within a structured coaching conversation.  There are often two interwoven aspects of neurodivergence that we might explore together: The functional aspect : how a differently wired brain can lead to challenges in a world largely designed for more typical ways of thinking and behaving. The emotional impact : the experience of being different can sometimes bring feelings of guilt, shame, or a sense of "not being good enough" or wondering "what's wrong with me". I don’t follow a formula...