Charmaine is a counsellor, life coach and certified poetry therapist with over 16 years’ experience of working with diverse communities. She provides therapeutic writing groups and workshops for secondary school students and adults, across London. Her groups and workshops are based on the interactive use of literature and/or writing to promote health and wellbeing. Her workshops/ groups embed confidence and resilience and are experiential, supportive, motivational and tailor-made. Content includes short story, poetry, poems, post cards, art, masks, character work and some guided imagery.

Participants are guided through a series of free flow creative, reflective and expressive writing exercises. She uses them as the basis for discussion and further exploration. The aim is not to focus on literary merit,the emphasis is on process. We work in a confidential, non-judgemental, supportive environment.

Charmaine qualified as a certified poetry therapist with The International Federation for Biblio/Poetry Therapy in U.S.A.

Nov 2015 – Present date
Charmaine currently works as a Poetry therapist in a secondary school, facilitating Courage to Be Me for Schools, writing for wellbeing programme she developed.
The programme uses expressive writing and poetry therapy techniques to help students with their personal development and to support their social and emotional needs.

Jul 2006 to present date She began facilitating poetry therapy groups working predominantly, but not exclusively, with women in Camden North London who have experienced traumas, such as gender-based violence, mental health problems, and substance misuse issues.

May - December 2015 She facilitated a weekly writing for wellbeing group in Clapton Library in Hackney; East London entitled Living and Loving your Legacy.

Jan 2012 - Dec 2013 She facilitated a weekly creative writing therapy group for Orthodox Jewish women in Stamford Hill in Hackney East London who are second and third generation holocaust survivors.

Upcoming courses *Introduction to Therapeutic Writing course on 10, 17 and 24 Jun 2018 at City Lit a further education college in Central London.

*Writing for Resilience- 15 September 2017 at City Lit a further education college in Central London.