Reflections on 2024: How My Work Evolved This Year

As we approach the end of the year I wanted to reflect on and share with you what I’ve been up to in 2024.

Writing this annual blog is a tradition I have kept up since 2018.

You can see my previous reflection blogs HERE.

new pic from my 2024 photoshoot

This year my email counselling training was a huge focus in my work and Email Counselling Academy (ECA) was officially launched.

My brand-new website, HERE, where I now offer self-paced online training for qualified counsellors wanting to gain specialist skills and experience in email counselling, went live.

For those of you following my work, you’ll know that due to the popularity of my live training courses on email counselling I was unable to keep up with demand for folks wanting to join live courses, so January 2024 saw the last of my live courses, which I ran for just 14 lucky students. 

Instead, I have now shifted my approach and developed a comprehensive, self-paced online course, which I ran as a beta test in spring 2024. Again, it was very popular and 20 people jumped at the chance to test it.

My new website at ECA hosts all my email counselling training

I got plenty of feedback, and the constructive criticism was very welcome as it helped me make A LOT of changes to the order of lessons and overall flow of all the modules.

Some lessons were too easy, and some tasks were too challenging, so I worked with my beta testers to make many improvements. This process took a lot longer than anticipated but we made it.

I was able to officially launch the brand-new, self-paced course called Foundations in Email Counselling at the end of October 2024. Find out more HERE. Students who joined this have 16 weeks access, so at the time of writing they are busy completing the lessons, tasks and quizzes. 

Also, in the summer of 2024 I created and taught the very first Advanced Certificate in Email Counselling for ECA. This longer, more in-depth course helped give previous students of my early courses an opportunity to get back together and put their skills into practice with lots of email simulation and reflection exercises. This was also a beta test course as it was the first time I have ever run it for ECA.

Again, I got a lot of very helpful feedback, which has provided me with plenty of ideas on how to make it better next time. I anticipate offering this again in autumn 2025. It will be exclusively open to ECA students who have completed the Foundations in Email Counselling course. 

ECA now has a professional membership group for email counsellors

As the beta test of the Advanced course was coming to an end in July 2024 it was clear that folks wanted a way to continue this community support and not be left out at sea on their own as they began to set up their new email counselling services.

So, after initially trying out offering ad-hoc consultation support groups, I decided instead to create something where email counsellors could get more regular support.

And so, the ECA professional membership was born. This now gives all students of ECA courses the opportunity to get support from peers, and me, during their course and beyond. It gives accountability and a sense of community as well as regular opportunities to ask me questions and get feedback on email simulation practice.

We have very recently created a referral list in which members can advertise their new email counselling service. If you like the idea of having counselling by email you can find and choose a counsellor who has completed specialist training HERE.

I am aware there are perhaps many counsellors reading this blog who may have only just come across the concept of offering counselling by email. I’m listening to sceptical views and also working to dispel any myths so that together we can open this fantastic option up to more clients.

My e-book now includes a bonus audio book

This is one of the main reasons I put together my free guide called 7 steps to help decide if email counselling is right for you. Get your copy HERE.

This short, free guide exclusively for counsellors helps highlight the main advantages (for both counsellors and clients) of email counselling, such as flexibility and accessibility.

For folks who want to read more, my e-book (which I originally wrote in 2023) was relaunched this year with ECA branding and now all sales include a bonus audiobook!

Find out more HERE.

2024 also saw me qualify as a clinical supervisor having gained my Diploma in Clinical Supervision with The Contemporary Institute for Clinical Sexology (CICS) earlier this year.

Going forward, my plan is to use my new supervision skills in the ECA membership offering specialist group supervision to email counsellors who are part of the ECA professional membership. See more details HERE. 

I passed my Diploma in Clinical Supervsion this year!

As well as completing my supervision qualification I also attended the following training/conferences as part of my ongoing CPD.

• Intro to Neuro-affirming Practice – (Curiosity Spot) with Louise Lucas

• Anti-oppressive Practice (Rainbow Therapy Scotland) with Ellie Muniandy

• Living & Working with Neurodivergence: Mental Health & Wellbeing (Onlinevents Conference) featuring several neurodivergent therapists

• Power in Therapy: A Conference for Counsellors Working with GSRD Clients (Rainbow Therapy Scotland Conference) with keynote speakers Erin Stevens and Joel Simpson

This year I featured on 2 podcasts.

Some other things I got up to in 2024

I was featured on 2 podcasts:

• Therapists Connect Podcast (listen HERE)

and

• Good Enough Counsellors Podcast (listen HERE)

On both episodes I share details about the early days of my career as a counsellor as well as reflecting on the benefits of email counselling and my new email counselling training.

After 7 years, I finally got round to getting a new photoshoot done, so I now have shiny new up-to-date pics on both my websites. I’ll be recording new videos in 2025. 

My client work remains busy with a waitlist

Although this blog focuses heavily on my email counselling training with my new organisation Email Counselling Academy (ECA), I’d like to just clarify that my private practice Sussex Rainbow Counselling is still very much alive, and I still work with clients throughout the year.

I get a lot of enquiries and it’s rare that a space comes up to work with me. But if you’d like me to be your therapist, add your name HERE to get updated when a space becomes available.

On a personal note, in case you missed it, this year, after many years of exploring my gender, I decided to come out in my work as non-binary and share my pronouns they/she with colleagues and clients.

Thank you for making it to the end of this huge blog! Thank you, too, for your ongoing support. I look forward to continuing to support clients and fellow counsellors in 2025.

All the best for 2025