I have been supporting people through personal trauma and crisis for nearly 30 years. I started life as a lawyer specialising in clinical negligence and personal injury. During this period I became interested in motivating clients to move on with their lives whilst their cases proceeded through the courts. After nearly 10 years as a lawyer I retrained as a social worker, with a particular interest in working with clients and their families experiencing brain injury and other acquired disabilities. I have now been an Advanced member of BABICM (British Association of Brain Injury Case Managers) for over 10 years. I always had ambitions of working independently and after working for a local authority I established my own Independent Social Work & Counselling Practice, Life Resolutions in 2001. Through our practice both my team and I are able to work with anyone in need without being hindered by government eligibility criteria.As independent practitioners we provide both therapeutic, day to day support i.e. identifying and securing appropriate care for older people and those with complex disbilities. However we also routinely work as Experts for the court system providing Independent Social Work Assessments for both adults and children who are pursuing legal action such as First Tier SEN Tribunals for children and s47 Social Care Need reports for adults. We work from a solution focused and empowering approach to support our clients to regain control of their lives as soon as they are able, thus keeping their costs low. I am an established Practice Educator, training, assessing and mentoring both pre and post qualified professionals in the social care sector. I am also an approved assessor for Headway’s Certificate in Brain Injury Studies. My long term goal is help raise the positive profile of social work and the benefits of Independent Social Work in particular; and to make it a recognised and valued service by both professionals and the public.