The New Book

‘‘Skills for Life - Understanding Counselling & Psychotherapy"

5% DISCOUNT WHEN ORDERED ON-LINE

Jenny Hope-Spencer is currently writing her second book, entitled 'Skills for Life - Understanding Counselling & Psychotherapy’, which will be available early 2010.  This book is an essential for all health-care workers, students training to be counceellors, or those attending our Life Sills Certificate course. It offers methods of reflective self-awareness, basic theoretical psychotherapy and counselling approaches and practical counselling skills.

This book is an essential guide for those wishing to take the Advanced Reflexology Diploma or attend Life Skills Workshops.

To reserve your copy before publication date, simply blog your request to www.reflexologyworkshop.com.

Biography
Jenny Hope-Spencer
MBACP, BACP Dip.Counselling, PGC Counselling Supervision (Dist), FAETC

Success means different things to different people:  Inspiring others comes with natural leadership…Jenny’s history and ‘mission’ has always been just that – to inspire and encourage others to find the courage to risk, as she herself has done, trusting that ‘life’ will provide if the motivation is right…

Jenny Hope-Spencer became interested in health when she joined the Red Cross as a teenager. Even at that young age, friends and family asked Jenny to massage their feet. When it came to thinking of a career, Jenny investigated Nursing, but decided it wasn’t for her and it wasn’t until the late 1970s that she encountered what was known as ‘Alternative’ medicine that was later to become known as ‘complementary medicine’.  A friend told her that Reflexology was coming to England and would she like to teach the subject.  As a single parent and working full-time, Jenny didn’t have time to find out what Reflexology was, let alone teach it!

However, Reflexology had other ideas and insisted she take notice! Wherever she went, it appeared in front of her – at exhibitions and health shows and talking to people who knew about the subject.  Even in hairdressers in an outlying village close to where she lived had leaflets describing this fascinating healing science – all at a time when only a few people were aware of ‘Alternative’ medicine. 

Shortly after these encounters, she found a position at the Sir Arthur Findlay College – the home of the National Spiritual Union and there she again encountered Reflexology through a work colleague who encouraged her to have a reflexology treatment with someone she knew who had trained as a Reflexologist.  Jenny had one treatment and was hooked!  The treatment made her feel so ill that she knew there must be something powerful happening with the treatment.

From that point, Jenny decided to give in and train in Reflexology. She realized she had been resisting the message but after having such a powerful reaction to treatment, knew she wanted to be able to help others in the same way her body had received help. Her original thoughts of Nursing were now channelled into a non-invasive and natural way of supporting the body’s physiological systems – and it was, she realized exactly the right career for her.

As a single parent, Jenny had a ‘day’ job in the City of London and developed her reflexology practice in her spare time.  During this period, she appeared on BBC television and gave radio interviews and ‘phone in’ programmes, and accompanied her reflexology teacher to Henlow Grange Health Farm on a regular basis as a way to promote reflexology to a wider public.

Eventually, Jenny moved to Bournemouth where she began teaching Reflexology with her own School, The Lynden School of Reflexology and Adult Education.  Recognising that all complementary medicine training would require standards of education in the future, she qualified as a teacher and her School became accredited to the Association of Reflexologists.  At this time, she taught from the Royal Bournemouth Hospital, Southampton General Hospital and The Royal South Hants Hospital, with Poole Hospital funding staff to train with her School.  She lectured widely, including Southampton University students and was auditioned by the Women’s Institute as a National key speaker.

Then, in 1994 whilst in Australia visiting her family, she suddenly knew that she had to train as a Counsellor. On her return, she was immediately admitted onto a BACP Diploma in Counselling and thence began a second career. Whilst training, she was recommended by the Chairman of the Association of Reflexologists to The Crowood Press who commissioned her to write her definitive training manual on Reflexology, ‘The Reflexology Workshop’, which took two years to complete. 

In addition, on successful completion of her Counselling Diploma, she entered the second year of an MSc at Surrey University for Psychotherapy.  However, due to the demands of students, Reflexology and counselling clients and writing her book, she felt unable to complete the Course – her work was her first priority.

For a while, her work took her new directions – working for MIND, the mental health Charity and working as a very busy counsellor within the NHS in Hampshire.  Still giving reflexology treatments, her work straddled the two main aims of her career in health care – to bring a greater awareness to others of how they can help themselves more – mentally, emotionally, and physically and to work alongside the medical profession in the true sense of the word ‘complementary’ – as well as, not:  instead of!

As part of her counselling career, she qualified as a Supervisor of other counsellors at Southampton University, gaining a Distinction. A just reward for the years of hard effort!

Now, due to demand for her to teach, she has Diploma Courses available from the Costa Blanca, Spain and from Winchester, Hampshire, UK, beginning in the Spring of 2009.  In addition, her Life Skills Workshops offer additional counselling skills and are included at Reflexology Diploma level as well as separate Courses for those who are health care professionals but who have no formal counselling qualifications or understanding of how counselling works. 

Jenny’s new book: entitled 'Skills for Life - Understanding Counselling & Psychotherapy’, which will be available early 2010.  Copies can be ordered on-line before publication.

The Reflexology Workshop, recently reprinted, is available now for purchase.

Jenny’s mantra has always been: do the best you can; aim to give the best of yourself under the circumstances in which you find yourself – that is all any of us can do.

Jenny can be contacted with any questions about training in reflexology and Life Skills Workshops through the blog on her website at: www.reflexologyworkshop.com/blog and through the Contact Us form.

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