About Me
Before creating The Tycho Retreat, I spent 18 years working in primary education. During the later years of my teaching career, I began exploring shamanic practice and found myself questioning something I had previously taken for granted — that my job, and the stresses that came with it, had to be my life.
Shamanic work opened up a different way of looking at my own journey and what was important to me. When my health later meant I needed to take an enforced break from classroom teaching, I suddenly had the time and space to reflect more deeply on where I was and where I wanted my life to go.
That period gave me the opportunity to focus on managing my Multiple Sclerosis, address aspects of my own mental wellbeing and continue learning. I completed further study, developed my existing practices and gradually began building the framework that would become The Tycho Retreat.
What began as a period of reassessment became a new direction. I wanted to create a space where I could bring together my experience in education, mentoring and wellbeing with the energy practices I had trained in, offering people individual time, support and space to explore what they need.
My approach
I believe that everyone’s experience is individual, which is why I don’t work from a one-size-fits-all approach. Whether you come to me for energy healing, Moonology or wellbeing mentoring, the starting point is always you.
I offer time to talk, ask questions and explore what is happening without judgement or pressure. Sessions are unhurried and shaped around what you need, drawing on my training and experience where appropriate rather than following a fixed formula.
For me, The Tycho Retreat is about creating a safe, supportive space where you can pause, reconnect with yourself and explore what moving forward might look like for you.
My training and experience
My shamanic training began with the Centre for Shamanism, where I developed my understanding and practice of shamanic work. I continued this journey with the Four Winds Light Body School, a leading school of shamanic energy medicine, where I gained my Master Energy Medicine certification. This work has become central to my practice and sits alongside my extensive training and experience in Reiki, giving me a broad foundation in different approaches to energy healing.
Alongside my Shamanic energy medicine training, I am a Reiki Master/Teacher and Crystal Reiki Master/Teacher, a Certified Moonologer™, and hold a Diploma in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. I draw on different aspects of this training where appropriate, while recognising the boundaries of each approach and the individual needs of the person I am working with.
My background in education continues to influence the way I work today, particularly within wellbeing mentoring and my educational work with children and young people. My own experience of AuDHD also gives me a personal understanding of some of the challenges that can come with navigating a world that doesn’t always accommodate different ways of thinking, learning and experiencing things. I believe that people learn, develop and grow at their own pace, and that support should respond to the individual rather than expecting them to fit a predetermined path. My approach is flexible and encourages people to recognise their own strengths, develop confidence and find ways of learning and growing that work for them. I am also a member of the Reiki Healing Association, supporting my commitment to professional standards within my Reiki practice.
In 2026, The Tycho Retreat was named Spiritual Support Service of the Year – West Midlands in the Prestige Awards 2026/27.
The Tycho Retreat is fully insured for the therapies and services I provide.