Penelope has been working freelance with Charlie Waller as consultant trainer for the Workplace programme and a trainer on the Universities and Colleges programme since August 2018.
She has more than 25 years’ experience as a counsellor and trainer, starting with Relate in 1992. She became a sessional counsellor at the University of Huddersfield in 1995 and then moved to a full-time counselling post at the University of Leeds in 2003, where she became Senior Counsellor in 2006.
Between 1995 and 2003, Penelope also worked in private practice and as a counsellor and consultant in two local Industries, offering one-to-one support, staff training and policy development. Her master’s research ‘Corporate Caring: Is counselling good for business?’ examined the impact of counselling on productivity at Zeneca, Huddersfield works.
While at the University of Leeds, Penelope developed and managed an extensive group work and psychoeducational training programme for students, as well as delivering staff training on mental health awareness. She worked at the University of Bradford from 2014 – 18, joining as Head of Counselling and then taking on the Disability Service as an additional area of responsibility in 2016, becoming Head of Disability, Counselling and Mental Health.
Penny has also worked in NHS settings as a counsellor in GP surgeries and as a staff counsellor, as well as being a practitioner and clinical lead with Take Time, a counselling and psychotherapy service for junior doctors in Yorkshire and Humber NHS trusts.