I began my journey as a Driving Instructor in 2002, and quickly realised that many learners failed due to nerves getting the better of them.
After 18 months of research to find the most effective methods for supporting my pupils, I trained as a Thought Field Therapist in 2008, reaching the Advanced Level in 2014. My pupils experienced significant benefits from these techniques, reporting a marked reduction in nerves and anxiety. This allowed them to remain calm during their driving tests, helping them to control their emotions rather than being controlled by them.
Once I discovered the formula that truly helped my pupils, my mission expanded to support other instructors and their learners. In 2008, I was honoured with an award from The Millennium Awards Trust for Social Entrepreneurs, enabling me to launch ‘L of a way 2 Pass,’ publish my first book, and develop a comprehensive training programme for Driving Instructors.
Since 2016, I’ve been working with my partner, Chris, a psychotherapist, to create our specialised ‘L of a way 2 Pass Programme.’ Today, we have Certified Driving Test Nerves Specialists across the UK.
Our programme is the product of decades of dedicated research, training, and hands-on experience with thousands of clients. We take pride in offering something truly unique in our industry.
As a result of an industrial accident in 1999, I became a wheelchair-bound paraplegic, experiencing excruciating pain seizures, with morphine as my constant companion. I felt a total loss of identity, and truly was ‘in crisis’. In 2004, after being in a wheelchair for five years, I reached a crossroads; I could let this condition control my life, both physically and emotionally, or learn how to take back control.
I had always had an interest in human behaviour, and this lead me to enrol as a mature student to study psychology. I had a voracious appetite for knowledge and even kept coming off my pain medication to study as the meds made my brain ‘fuzzy’. Over the next few years, I gained many qualifications, including a First Class Honours Degree in Psychology, specialising in Behavioural Psychology. I completed the Master’s Degree studies at Sheffield and finished my research studies two years later. Through this long journey I began to find my true identity and came to the realisation that it wasn’t just the additional letters after my name that enabled me to help people, but my own particular life experiences.
I have a unique approach to helping people. I’ve been there, I’ve sat in ‘the therapy chair’, I’ve experienced the terrors of panic, and the utter loneliness you feel. Obviously, everyone’s emotional journey is different, but understanding my own path has given me a unique insight and empathy towards everyone I work with. The phrase ‘physician heal thyself’ epitomises my life. Yes, I had the qualifications, but before I could heal others, I had to learn how to heal myself. Sitting in the wheelchair day after day, staring at the same wallpaper, no longer the provider for the family, I’ve known the darkest of days.
Having been in a wheelchair for 11 years, in 2011 I had surgery to remove scar tissue. Then, after a three-year struggle to walk, I gained my independence from the wheelchair, and I am now a prolific rambler. Would I choose to spend eleven years in a wheelchair? Of course not! However, I now live every day to the full and feel truly blessed for the life that I have, and if I can share my knowledge, experience and expertise with you to help you find peace, happiness and fulfilment in your life, then my life’s journey has not been a wasted one.
In addition to my therapy work, I take on a limited number of PDIs and ADIs who are perhaps on their final attempt at their Part 3 or Standards Check. My unique skillset enables me to prepare them mentally so they can control their test nerves and anxiety, and also to the standard required by the DVSA.
Since 2016, Diane and I have worked closely together to design our own unique therapy system, and L of a way 2 Pass Programme, which we then tailor to each individual person that we work with. Our combination of different therapeutical interventions is the culmination of decades of research, training and working with 1000’s of clients, and this ensures that what we offer is totally different to any other therapy available in the UK today. For this reason, we are not associated with a specific psychological or therapeutical organisation.
