Hi, my name is Donna.

I have tried to offer you a brief overview of me and my training and experience without it becoming an extensive list of bullet points! Here’s what I believe might be helpful for you to know to give you a sense of what I’m about..

I have been working with groups, individuals and couples for 35 years and wear many different professional hats these days.

These include being a writer, life transitions coach, an elder/mentor and group facilitator.  I describe myself as an ‘elder in training’ because I am leaning towards that stage of my life as a 57 year old woman who has worked hard to transform her wounds into wisdom. In this elder role I endeavour to share my hard won wisdom with those ready to listen and learn, and to be guided along their own path towards healing and awakening. To understand more about what it means to become an elder, you can read my Substack piece called ‘A Becoming’ here.

Many moons ago (feels like lifetimes) I was a social worker and specialised in child protection.  I worked in women’s refuges and prisons as well as schools and children’s homes. After the inevitable burn out/breakdown/breakthrough, some years later I retrained as a Hoffman Facilitator with the Hoffman Institute UK and worked there for many years delivering The Hoffman Process internationally. I would eventually become their Head of Training, helping to recruit and train the facilitation team, and shaping the programme content. 

Alongside my work on the Process, I completed the Imago Relationship Clinical Training and went on to run a busy 1:1 and couples practice in London for many years.

After almost 10 years of working in this way, it felt time to move on, and along with my ex-Hoffman colleague and friend Gabi Krueger, we co-founded The Bridge Retreat in 2014 , which was a 5 day residential programme supporting people to grieve and heal from their heartbreaks and losses. A documentary called Love(d) was made about our work in 2018, and you can watch it via Loved Documentary.

Over the years I have trained in numerous different modalities, and have been fortunate enough to be trained by many great teachers including Sobonfu Somé, David Richo, Caroline Myss, Andrew Harvey, Robert Holden, Giten Tonkov and Quanita Roberson to name a few. I have also trained with the Centre for Systemic Constellations to support my work in honouring family and ancestral influences, and all of my work is trauma informed.

I have written and published 2 books – The Bridge - a 9 step crossing into authentic and wholehearted living. (Penguin Life, 2022) and Wise Words for Women (Happy Place Books/Ebury 2023).

I also write a regular newsletter for my Substack subscribers which is called A Pilgrimage for the Soul.

I am a mother of 2 daughters and the grandmother of 3 young boys. I absolutely love, and am committed to my role in helping to raise ‘gentle-men’. I view this as an important part of my role as an elder.

I also love reading, writing, hanging out with trees and family (same, same), watching films, listening to podcasts, exercising, drinking coffee, and practicing non religious prayer. I view nature as my church, because it’s where I go to worship Life. I would describe myself as an introvert (although for a long time I pretended not to be).

I am passionate about singing and dancing, especially in community, and as you can see from my photos on here, I laugh a lot. I view joy as its own form of radical activism, and am both a wise elder and playful child all rolled into one. You could say that I am both 57 and 7 years old, and I’m very glad about that.

On a more personal level…