Bernard Howell
After a career in teaching I moved into counselling, originally as a volunteer counsellor in a hospice setting but later, following completion of my more formal training, as a full time counsellor in schools, a counselling service for children and young people and in the voluntary sector with refugees and socially isolated people. I currently work as a school counsellor in a large Catholic comprehensive school in the Archdiocese of Birmingham.
My initial counsellor training was at Kinharvie, (New Abbey) Glasgow. Originally a Marist centre that provided pastoral training courses. I completed by Masters in counselling and supervision at Glasgow Caledonian University in 2002.
My practice as a counsellor has been strongly influenced by the contemplative traditions within the Catholic Church with a particularly emphasis on our inner journeys towards self awareness and self acceptance. As part of that process I have traveled quite extensively and walked ‘alone’, some of the traditional routes to Santiago de Compostella over the past fifteen years.
I describe my practice as person-centred since not-knowing is a key element of it and my commitment is to facilitating people becoming the person they truly are. I feel that other modes implicitly assume too much.