I started my training in 2006, as a psychology undergraduate student. Once I completed my degree, I began a master’s in work and organisational psychology: I was fascinated by what motivates us to work (particularly in the helping professions), how we develop our professional identities, and what kind of needs (of belonging, individuation, recognition, etc.) we bring into our professional environments.

I pursued this line of research during my PhD in psychology. As part of this, I completed an in-depth ethnographic study in a large urban hospital, focusing, in particular, on the lives and work of healthcare professionals in intensive care units and emergency departments. I was awarded my PhD in 2016.

I continued to work as an academic (University of Cambridge) and researcher embedded in the NHS for several years, striving to produce research that was accessible to, and relevant for, the people involved in it – healthcare staff and patients. I developed a particular interest in ‘peer research’, that is, the kind of research that is co-designed with people with lived experience of the issue at hand. You can find my publications here.

Throughout my research work, I have been aware that my main interest was in people’s lives, their struggles, and the meaning they made of these. This is what eventually led me to start my psychotherapy training. I have a diploma in integrative counselling and psychotherapy from The Minster Centre, which is one of the longest-established institutions in the UK and Europe for integrative psychotherapy. The training covered the main therapeutic modalities (psychoanalysis, existential, and humanistic psychotherapy) and included a particular focus on trauma, intersectionality, and systemic oppression. As part of my training, I have completed several clinical placements and I worked with a variety of issues and presentations, including more severe ones.

Alongside my clinical role, I continue to be a researcher and an academic. At present, I work in the Division of Psychology at UCL as a research fellow, working on a study at the intersection of psychedelics and psychoanalysis.