CICS brings together specialists in the field of clinical sexology and relationship therapy to ensure that our programmes are informed by professionals with specific and extensive experience.
Julie is CICS Founding Director and Principal. She is a UKCP Registered and Accredited general psychotherapist, COSRT Senior Accredited Sex and Relationship Therapist and COSRT Accredited Clinical Supervisor. She has extensive experience working with sex and relationship themes both in the NHS and in private practice. She is Clinical Director of Sex Therapy Herts and has a busy private therapy and supervision practice. Julie is a Pink Therapy endorsed GSRD Aware Trainer.
Natasha Anderson-Foster is a senior COSRT accredited psychosexual psychotherapist, a UKCP Registered Clinical Psychotherapist, and an EMDR therapist working in private practice and within the NHS in the West Midlands as a sexual health specialist. She sees individuals and couples presenting with a wide range of sex and relationship issues. She is an executive committee member of CSRP, and a member of the Black and Asian Therapist Network.
Natasha has over 15 years experienced in working with clients presenting with FGM/c, rape and sexual violence, HIV, compulsive sexual behaviours, and is particularly interested in psychosexual issues experienced by black people and anti-discriminatory practice.
Natasha and has delivered workshops on how therapist can open the space for clients to share their experience of racism. She has also been internationally interviewed (South Africa, Canada) exploring historic and current psychosexual and sexual health issue in Black Caribbean and Black African communities.
Natasha is a COSRT registered clinical supervisor, offering psychosexual and specialist sexual health supervision: utalkaboutit.co.uk
Tracy is a COSRT accredited Psychosexual and Relationship therapist. She works with individuals, couples, families, children and young people on a wide range of presenting issues including sex and relationship issues and compulsive sexual behaviours. Tracy is a qualified clinical supervisor and works with counsellors in training and qualified counsellors within her private practice.
Previously Tracy was the service lead for a Local Hospice and developed a counselling service within a local prison. She was also invited to guest speak at a national Hospice UK conference about her work with marginalised communities and bereavement. Tracy has extensive experience of teaching counselling, sex and relationship therapy at Masters level in several educational settings.
Kathy holds a combined role in our team, supportingas Course Administrator and Sex Therapy Herts Practice Manager. She has spent her working life in mental health, initially as an NHS administrator at Fairfield Hospital and latterly as Practice Manager for Local Counselling Centre. Kathy brings with her an in-depth knowledge of different healthcare models and healthcare providers. A naturally warm and empathic person, Kathy has enormous skill at helping our clients access the appropriate help they need.
Holly is a CICS graduate and a COSRT Registered Sex and Relationship Therapist. Alongside her private practice, Holly works in Human Resources. Her combined experiences of completing the CICS Pathway 1, qualifying as COSRT Registered Sex and Relationship therapist with us, and her human resources career make Holly uniquely placed to support us the interview process for our Pathway 1 applicants.
Dan is an COSRT accredited psychosexual and relationship therapist, registered supervisor and BACP registered therapist. He runs his own private practice in Bricket Wood, Hertfordshire.
Dan’s core training is humanistic and he practices from a pluralistic approach, utilising person-centred, CBT and psychodynamic therapies with individual clients and couples.
He has previously provided counselling at CRI Spectrum supporting people with addictions, St Albans Hospital Sexual Health Clinic, the Local Counselling Centre and Woodbridge Therapy.
Prior to teaching at CICS, Dan taught on the counselling diploma at Barnet College, North London.
Justine is a COSRT Registered Psychosexual and Relationship therapist with COSRT and a CICS Pathway 1 graduate. Justine works with a broad range of sexual function issues and relationship problems within her private practice. She also works as the psychosexual therapist for the counselling division of a domestic violence charity based in Chelmsford.
Prior to training as a sex and relationship therapist, Justine worked hands on with horses. As almost entirely silent communicators, horses have instilled in Justine an ethos of listening, patience and empathy. This background has nurtured a keen interest in the parallels between human and non-human animal behaviour, especially within the areas of communication, trauma and compulsive behaviours.
Loki has completed the CICS Diploma in Clinical Sexology and Relationship Therapy and is working towards Registration with COSRT as a Psychosexual and Relationship Therapist. Loki works on placement, both online and in-person, with a range of sexual function issues, alongside relationship problems and low-desire presentations. Loki is affirming of Gender, Sexuality and Relationship Diversity (GSRD), kink identities and is also skilled in working with neurodiversity and autistic spectrum conditions.
Prior to training with CICS, Loki gained Qualified Teaching and Learning Status (QTLS) in post-compulsory education and has taught adult learners for many years, lecturing across both HE and FE settings. In addition, Loki trained as an inclusive Sex Educator and worked as a Curriculum Lead in specialist SEND provisions and community mental health settings, teaching Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) to neurodiverse adults and leading multi-disciplinary RSE task groups that support people to understand and better manage problematic sexualised attitudes and behaviours.
Our Principal, Julie Sale, leads our flagship qualification pathway course, taught by our wonderful team of Co-Tutors, all of whom are COSRT Registered Psychosexual and Relationship Therapists. Subject experts provide in depth video lessons for the online aspect of this course and attend our live teaching days to either lead their specialist subjects or to provide case study supervision and question and answer sessions.
Catriona Boffard is a Clinical Sexologist, Psychotherapist, and Sexuality Researcher. She is an accredited member of the College of Sex and Relationship Therapists and the UK Council for Psychotherapists. Catriona has two Masters degrees from the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg and from the University of Sydney, Australia. She further obtained a Postgraduate Diploma in CBT from Royal Holloway University of London. She holds the European certification as a psycho-sexologist with the European Society of Sexual Medicine and European Federation of Sexology. She has been a member of the My Sexual Health team lead by Dr Elna Rudolph for over ten years, and she is currently undertaking her doctorate in psychotherapy with Metanoia Institute and Middlesex University.
Stephanie is a BACP Senior Accredited and Registered individual and couple psychotherapist and clinical supervisor, and sex and relationship therapist. She has over 15 years’ experience working as a therapist in schools, universities, charities and in private practice. She has studied and taught a wide variety of approaches to counselling and psychotherapy and as a result is firmly integrative/pluralistic in her approach.
Relationships have been her passion and fascination for a number of years. She trains and supervises NHS therapists to deliver the evidence-based Couples Counselling for Depression programme. She completed a specialist couple psychotherapy post-graduate training after her core counselling master’s degree, and is a CICS graduate. She continues to study and reflect on new ways to support people in a diversity of relationship types.
Ryan is a queer-identifying and queer-affirming integrative therapist registered with COSRT and HCPC. His psychosexual and relationships practice is based upon building healthier connections to identity, pleasure, relationships, and life journeys, and focuses on reframing perspectives, proactive action, feelings of aliveness, and self-compassion.
Ryan works as an individual, couples, and group therapist, and has worked with substance misuse, sexual health, trauma, LGBTQIA + wellbeing, general adult mental health, and children’s mental health within education. This has given him a well-rounded understanding of a person’s lifespan, as well as the importance of relationships in our lives.
In addition to his clinical practice, Ryan has extensive experience in public speaking, workshop creation and facilitation, writing and producing content for mental health training and conferences.
He is particularly interested in the relationship between language and behaviour, the influence of social and cultural narratives, practices that support healing from sexual shame, navigating consensual non-monogamy, and the nuances and tensions between critical thinking and lived experiences.
May is an Integrative Arts Psychotherapist and a Psychosexual and Relationship Therapist. Her approach follows the bio-psycho-socio model and is inclusive of gender, sexual and relationship diversity. May is an Accredited Member with the British Association for Counsellors and Psychotherapists (BACP), is Registered with the Health and Care Professional Council (HCPC) and is a Registered member of the College of Sexual and Relationship Therapists (COSRT). May is a graduate of the CICS Diploma in Clinical Sexology and Relationship Therapy programme.
Rosemary is a COSRT Registered Sex and Relationship Therapist and a Registered Nurse with the Nursing and Midwifery Council. Rosemary has a background in sexual and reproductive health and has worked as a lead nurse, service manager, and Matron for non-profit organisations, the NHS and online digital healthcare providers.
In her private practice, Rosemary is passionate about self-love, self-care, and self-compassion supporting clients to build an effective self-care routine as a foundation to maintain well-being. She has a special interest in race, gender, sexuality, and theology.
Christopher is a Chartered Psychologist and Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society, registered Clinical Psychologist (HCPC), and Registered Psychosexual and Relationship Therapist and Supervisor with COSRT. His postgraduate training includes an MSc in Health Psychology from UCL, a Doctorate in Clinical Psychology from the University of Essex and a Diploma in Clinical Sexology from CICS. He is currently working towards a postgraduate qualification in Clinical and Medical Education that will lead to becoming a Fellow of Advanced Higher Education.
Christopher currently works as a Clinical Psychologist and Clinical Tutor on the Doctorate in Clinical Psychology at the University of Oxford. He also holds a lectureship at the University of Essex, where he supervises doctoral level research and contributes to teaching on clinical health psychology. In addition to his academic posts, he works part-time in the NHS where is a Clinical Psychologist and Psychosexual Service Lead at the world leading 56 Dean Street clinic. He also has a small private practice, which is predominantly focused on sex and relationship therapy.
Christopher has a specialist interest in compulsive sexual behaviours and ChemSex. Prior to his role at 56 Dean Street, he led the high risk sexual behaviour and ChemSex pathway at the Royal London Hospital. He also has a specialist interest in anxiety disorders affecting gay and bisexual men, such as HIV health anxiety. This prompted him to conduct research into the psychological and psychosexual impact of PrEP in gay and bisexual men who struggled with HIV health anxiety.
Imogen is an integrative therapist with a specialism in psychosexual and relationship therapy. She works as a teaching assistant and doctoral researcher at the University of Manchester and has published work on mental health and counselling including kink-aware psychotherapy practice. She is an accredited member of the British Association of Counsellors and Psychotherapists (BACP) and a registered member of the College of Sex and Relationship Therapists (COSRT). Imogen is a graduate of the CICS Diploma in Clinical Sexology and Relationship Therapy Programme.
Angela is a GP, British Menopause Society trained Advanced Menopause Specialist and Clinical Sexologist. She has a background in Palliative Medicine and spent over ten years working in a hospice, involved in both inpatient and community care of the dying and those living with life-limiting illnesses. This gave her plenty of chance to practice her skills in having difficult conversations, and to learn the value of a holistic, bio-psycho-social approach to problems.
Having become frustrated at not having the right skills to help patients who were struggling with sexual dysfunction as a result of their medical issues, she trained in Clinical Sexology with CICS. She enjoyed the subject so much that she went on to attend the ESSM Advanced School of Sexual Medicine. She is now a Fellow of the European Committee of Sexual Medicine. Angela is also a member of the Institute of Psychosexual Medicine and the National Association for Premenstrual Syndromes.
Angela currently spends half her week working in her surgery in North Yorkshire, taking a lead on women’s health and sexual health. She also works in an NHS clinic in Hull, taking referrals for women with complex menopause problems, premenstrual dysphoric disorder and sexual dysfunction.
Beck is a registered psychosexual and relationship therapist with COSRT. They specialise in gender, sexuality, relationship diversity (GSRD), kink and fetish. Beck identifies as non-binary, queer, and polyamorous.
Beck's career path began with training in journalism, which led them to become involved in queer communities in the North East. They started writing extensively about consent, sex education, and identity, and subsequently decided to pursue a career in therapy.
In their therapy practice, Beck primarily works with those in queer and non-monogamous relationships, as well as trans and non-binary individuals. They are committed to providing a safe and supportive environment for clients to explore and identify their authentic selves.
Beck is passionate about educating and supporting students throughout their training, as well as providing therapists with the skills and knowledge to confidently work with diverse sexual and relationship orientations.
Dominic Davies is the Founder of Pink Therapy. He has been in practice as a psychotherapist, clinical sexologist and clinical supervisor for almost forty years, pioneering in the UK the development of working with Gender, Sex and Relationship Diversities (GSRD) as a new specialist field of clinical practice. Dominic adopts a norm-critical, kink-knowledgeable and sex-positive stance to his work.
Dominic is a Fellow of both the National Council for Psychotherapy and the National Counselling Society. He directs an international training programme for qualified mental health professionals in GSRD therapy worldwide and regularly presents at national and international conferences on the importance of specialised training to work with GSRD clients. He has won several awards for his work in sexual freedom and mental health.
Dr Lori Beth Bisbey is a clinical psychologist, accredited advanced GSRD therapist, sex and intimacy coach, author, speaker, and specialist therapist on Channel 4’s Open House: The Great Sex Experiment. She has been working with people for 36 years, helping them to create and maintain relationships that contain sex without shame. She has a speciality in the treatment of trauma (and specifically PTSD). Dr Bisbey has hosted the A to Z of Sex® podcast since 2016. She has been touring the UK since spring 2023 speaking for SeedTalks. Her primary talk is The Psychology of Fetish and Kink. Dr Bisbey identifies as a queer polyamorous leather woman. She is in a 24/7 long-term authority transfer based relationship.
Michelle Donald is a COSRT Senior Accredited Psychosexual Therapist and her expertise is in the areas of sexual issues related to spinal cord injury (SCI) and the strains on a relationship that SCI may bring.
Michelle’s long-term aim is focused on the development of a comprehensive sexual education programmes within rehabilitation centres and care agencies. She currently provides education and therapy programmes to patients and staff at Southport Spinal Centre and The Sue Ryder Neurological Centre in Preston to enable staff to feel more comfortable in opening up these conversations and for patients, help with feelings about embarking on a different intimate life.
Michelle also Volunteers for The Back Up Trust, a Spinal Injuries Charity, helping with putting together the on line sexuality learning. She works closely with Enhance the UK, working to change societies view on disability and SHADA (Sexual Health and Disability Alliance) with a keen interest in making sexual services available and accessible to all disabilities.
Gwendolyn Jones is a sexologist and relationship therapist registered with COSRT. She has an MSc in Occupational Psychology and is a graduate of the first CICS cohort in Clinical Sexology and Relationship Therapy. She is also a PCC-trained coach and mentor. She specialises in neurodiversity and allyship.
Gwen has over 25 years of experience working with neurodiversity. She is also a neurodiverse woman, partner to a neurodiverse man and mother to 4 unique neurodiverse children. This perspective allows her to use the pluralist mindset to create a space which allows neurodivergent people to discover and live in their own authenticity.
Gwen has worked tirelessly for many years to create a more neuro-inclusive world. Her reach has extended from the classroom to the therapy room to the board room as she advocates for neurodivergent affirmative practice allowing access to opportunity and the ability to thrive for those whose brains are not typical.
Tracey Sainsbury is a fertility counsellor accredited by the British Infertility Counselling Association, providing counselling for support and implications counselling ahead of treatment for patients and donors. She is a member of the Advisory Panel for Fertility Network UK, and designs and facilitates training in fertility for the College of Sexual and Relationship Therapists. Her first book, ‘Making Friends with your Fertility’ was published in October 2017 and she has a chapter on Egg Freezing included in ‘The Specialists’ Guide to IVF’, due for publication in 2018.
Tracey has over 15 years’ experience in the fertility sector, speaking regularly at conferences, both for professional and public audiences and is a regular contributor to fertility podcasts. Prior to working within a clinic setting she worked with fertility charities and on committees for the HFEA, Fertility Network and the National Infertility Awareness Campaign and served on the Executive Committee of the British Infertility Counselling Association for 4 years.
Tracey feels passionately about the provision of exceptional care for patients making fertility related decisions and accessing assisted conception treatment, she believes that getting it right for the patient in terms of support, from the moment they step foot through to the door, makes sound business sense.
Tim Blackstone is a Liverpool based COSRT Accredited Psychosexual Therapist. Working for the Abacus Sexual Health Service, part of the Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust, he sees patients with a wide range of sexual dysfunctions and relationship problems. He also set up and co-ordinates the Liverpool, Sefton and Knowsley Trans Support Service (TSS) for patients with gender related issues. He was a founder member of the So To Speak Sex and Relationship Education and Outreach Team and has delivered SRE to vulnerable young people across Merseyside for over 18 years. He also writes and delivers SRE training packages to professionals working in educational and care settings. Having previously been on the board of trustees for the Merseyside Brook Advisory Service, he now holds a similar role with COSRT.
Shona is a COSRT registered psychosexual therapist practising in the NHS and a university lecturer in sexual health. She has worked predominantly with people who have been marginalised due to sex work, poverty and substance use in third sector and NHS health services. Shona has a special interest in sexual violence, previously practising as an Independent Sexual Violence Advisor, lecturing on sexual violence for psychosexual therapy students and undertaking Masters research into the psychosexual care within sexual violence care pathways.
Lisa Etherson is a Psychosexual Therapist and PhD researcher.
Lisa is a qualified psychosexual therapist who has run a busy private practice for over a decade. She works with couples and individuals and has a particular interest in compulsive sexual behaviour.
Before retraining, Lisa was a registered nurse who specialised in working with drug injectors and blood borne viruses, such as Hep B, C and HIV.
Lisa is currently undertaking a PhD in shame, relational trauma and compulsive sexual behaviour. As a result of her PhD, Lisa has developed Shame Containment Theory, a new way of understanding and working with shame.
Hazel is a specialist in Divorce and Family Law. For some 40 years, she worked as a solicitor, gaining accreditations and regularly named as a leading lawyer in numerous journals and guides. She was an early adopter of and advocate for working in a collaborative way, with a commitment not to take a case to court. For the last 30 years she has also worked as an accredited mediator.
She gained considerable experience in advising people whose relationships had broken down. Her main work was in financial disputes, or where there were issues relating to children. Many of her clients had international connections in jurisdictions where quite different laws might apply.
Professionally, her aim was to try to sort matters out without going to court, always mindful of the impact of such proceedings on adults and children. In pursuit of that goal, she worked increasingly closely with colleagues in relevant professions to form teams to support, guide and represent clients. Those included therapists and counsellors, tax barristers and immigration practitioners and many others. In court, she was noted as tenacious and tough, going the extra mile for her clients.
Since her retirement from the law in 2019, she has increased her teaching of private family law, mainly working in the charitable sector. She maintains a small mediation practice.
Julie Sale and John Reilly-Dixon lead the teaching on this course.
John is a COSRT Accredited Psychosexual and Relationship therapist. He has a portfolio career and splits his time between working clinically and as an academic. John is a senior lecturer in counselling at Sunderland University as well as working as a freelance trainer for several organisations. In his clinical work he sees individuals, couples, and people in multi-partnered relationships for psychosexual and relationship therapy.
John has been training therapists for over 15 years and has been working as a relationship therapist since 2006, initially with Relate and for the past 10 years within NHS sexual health services and a NHS gender service.
John is currently studying a PhD with Huddersfield University part-time on ‘Improving practice in relationship therapy with non-binary clients’.
Video lessons and demonstrations are provided by Silva Neves and Rima Hawkins.
Tracy is a COSRT accredited Psychosexual and Relationship therapist. She works with individuals, couples, families, children and young people on a wide range of presenting issues including sex and relationship issues and compulsive sexual behaviours. Tracy is a qualified clinical supervisor and works with counsellors in training and qualified counsellors within her private practice.
Previously Tracy was the service lead for a Local Hospice and developed a counselling service within a local prison. She was also invited to guest speak at a national Hospice UK conference about her work with marginalised communities and bereavement. Tracy has extensive experience of teaching counselling, sex and relationship therapy at Masters level in several educational settings.
Skye is a COSRT accredited psychosexual psychotherapist, a UKCP Registered Clinical Psychotherapist, and a Registered Member of the BACP. She is also a qualified Clinical Supervisor, having completed the CICS Diploma in Clinical Supervision.
Skye has worked in the private, charity, and educational sectors within the field of counselling and psychotherapy. Since 2019 Skye has worked in academia, firstly teaching undergraduate Psychology and Counselling, and currently on an Integrative Counselling MSc programme. She also works as a visiting lecturer and delivers a range of training in the private sector.
She runs a busy private practice, working with individuals and couples, as well as working in private practice with supervisees.
Video lessons are provided by Silva Neves and live days are run by Zanna and Rachel.
Silva Neves is a COSRT accredited psychosexual and relationship psychotherapist, a UKCP Registered Psychotherapist, a trauma psychotherapist and an EMDR therapist working in his Central London private practice and online. He sees individuals and couples presenting with a wide range of sex and relationship issues.
Silva specialises in working with sexual trauma, infidelity and compulsive sexual behaviours. He works extensively with the LGBTQ community as well as the heterosexual population.
Silva is a clinical supervisor offering psychosexual and relationship therapy, trauma therapy and compulsive sexual behaviour treatment supervision and ad-hoc supervision. He is a faculty member of IOSS (International Online Sexology Supervisors).
Silva delivers a range of trainings on psychosexual and relationship therapy, trauma therapy and compulsive sexual behaviour treatment. He is an accreditation assessor for COSRT.
Silva often contributes to articles on various sex and relationship topics and recently featured in the BBC programme Sex On The Couch.
Silva is the author of Compulsive Sexual Behaviours. A Psychosexual Treatment Guide for Clinicians. He often contributes to articles on various sex and relationship topics and recently featured in the BBC programme Sex On The Couch.
Zanna is a Practitioner Psychologist (HCPC) and Chartered Counselling Psychologist (BPS). Her postgraduate training includes a Doctorate in Counselling Psychology from City University of London, a Diploma in Compulsive Sexual Behaviour from CICS, and she is an Advanced Accredited Gender, Sexuality and Relationship Diversities Therapist with Pink Therapy. She is currently working towards Internal Family Systems certification with the IFS Institute.
Zanna works in a busy private practice where she offers therapy, supervision and consultation. She has a special interest in grief and shame, working with partners of individuals with compulsive sexual behaviour, and ethical therapy provision for the bi+ community. Alongside private practice, she participates in various projects, such as contributing to the recently published "Relationally Queer: A Pink Therapy Guide for Practitioners" and co-facilitating community-based reflective groups. She also has a particular interest in mentoring and supporting trainee and newly qualified therapists, and regularly works with counselling psychology doctoral students.
Rachel is a BACP registered psychotherapist and works with couples and individuals. She trained at Tavistock Relationships and is a graduate of the CICS Diploma in Compulsive Sexual Behaviour. She has a particular interest in attachment and compulsive sexual behaviour and also the impact of work identities and career stress on relationships.
Rachel has a background in professional development and careers in higher education, with an MSc Career Management Counselling from Birkbeck, University of London. Alongside her private practice as a psychotherapist she is based at the London School of Economics, teaching and coaching MSc students from LSE’s Departments of Gender and Health Policy. Rachel is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, awarded for professional skills and experience in teaching and assessment.
Julie Sale and Tracy Tuffs lead the teaching on this course.
Tracy is a COSRT accredited Psychosexual and Relationship therapist. She works with individuals, couples, families, children and young people on a wide range of presenting issues including sex and relationship issues and compulsive sexual behaviours. Tracy is a qualified clinical supervisor and works with counsellors in training and qualified counsellors within her private practice.
Previously Tracy was the service lead for a Local Hospice and developed a counselling service within a local prison. She was also invited to guest speak at a national Hospice UK conference about her work with marginalised communities and bereavement. Tracy has extensive experience of teaching counselling, sex and relationship therapy at Masters level in several educational settings.
Stephanie is a BACP Senior Accredited and Registered individual and couple psychotherapist and clinical supervisor, and sex and relationship therapist. She has over 15 years’ experience working as a therapist in schools, universities, charities and in private practice. She has studied and taught a wide variety of approaches to counselling and psychotherapy and as a result is firmly integrative/pluralistic in her approach.
Relationships have been her passion and fascination for a number of years. She trains and supervises NHS therapists to deliver the evidence-based Couples Counselling for Depression programme. She completed a specialist couple psychotherapy post-graduate training after her core counselling master’s degree, and is a CICS graduate. She continues to study and reflect on new ways to support people in a diversity of relationship types.
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