Penny Parks Training

Penny Parks – Founder (1943 - 2020)

Penny was the creator of Parks Inner Child Therapy (PICT). A pioneer and expert in the field of childhood abuse (recognition, treatment and training) – having developed the first stand-alone Inner Child method of therapy.

She was born in America (1943) and lived in the UK since 1982 up to her death in 2020. Her work with survivors in England evolved into two books; the PICT Trauma & Abuse Specialist Skills Training course and various workshops.

Books – Rescuing the ‘Inner Child’ (1990, Souvenir Press) – a self-help publication and The Counsellor’s Guide to Parks Inner Child therapy (1994, Souvenir Press). Both books have continuously remained in print.

She lived in Suffolk, England with her husband Rod and retired in 2017 to enjoy walking her dog, Pixi, and her hobbies as a vocalist and artist. Penny's Personal website

Although retired, she was privileged to be offered and to have accepted the invitation of Honorary Fellow Membership of both the National Council of Psychotherapists (NCP) and the National Counselling Society (NCS).

Susan Osborne – Director of Training

I have had substantial training and grounding in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, as a Parks Inner Child therapist and a Lifespan Integration Level three practitioner I am able to offer my clients an invitation to access resolution to all areas of trauma, abuse and accumulated issues which interfere with everyday functioning.

One key area of interest is in raising the profile of professional standards, the provision of training and supervision for individuals and within organisations.

My clients can be assured that, just as each person’s underlying building blocks (schemas) for life are unique to that person, every client can bring their vulnerabilities and sensitivities into therapy and be met with compassion and resolution. Through the provision of new information and the emphasis on finding solutions, my clients find themselves ‘working’ and having ‘hope’ from the first session.

To bring good balance to my life, I spend time creating my garden and riding out on my native breed horse across the bridle paths of East Suffolk. I am always up for a challenge and apply my vitality to a diverse range of activities that work both my body and my mind.

www.angliatherapy.co.uk

Nicky Carling – Trainer & Supervisor

I am an experienced Trauma Informed Therapist and Counsellor with my own private practice in Leicester. I have spent the last few years working as a Trauma Care Practitioner for Imara in Nottingham, and as a Counsellor for two local Cancer charities. I work in a blended way, incorporating a number of different therapeutic approaches where appropriate, so that each session fits around the client rather than the other way round.

My journey with PICT began several years ago when I was trained by Susan Osborne and met my fellow Supervisors. It has been wonderful to share my learning with these wonderfully like-minded people and to continue to work with them as we support the future generations of PICT therapists.

Of all the therapeutic approaches I work with, PICT is my go to, either in full or by using some of the standalone exercises to help clients to move forward. I find it incredibly versatile and it speaks to most clients in a gentle and powerful way.

For more information on me and my private practice, my website is www.mayflowertherapies.co.uk

Anita Smith – PICT Supervisor

After 14 years in a challenging and competitive sales environment I decided to retrain. From 2002 -2006 I trained and succeeded in becoming an in person-centred counsellor.

Since then, I have trained as a Parks Inner Child Therapy practitioner, Life / performance Coach, Master practitioner of NLP, a Cognitive Behavioural Therapist (CBT), a couple’s counsellor and hypnotherapist.

I have been a counsellor for over 16 years, during this time I have worked with homeless people young and old, young people aged 7 onwards, couples, trans-gender, same sex couples, individuals, and couples and people from different cultures and religions.
I set up my private practice in 2015 which has gone from strength to strength. My client base is very broad working anything from anxiety to historical and acute abuse in all forms. Trauma work has been my main focus the last four years working under the NHS umbrella.

I enjoy meeting new people and particularly in my role as a counsellor, I find I learn from my clients as they learn from me, I work very much in collaboration with my clients ensuring my work is client led rather than goal focused.

I like to bring humour into the session where appropriate as I have found this builds rapport and clients feel more at ease, I often describe myself as Marmite.
In my off time, I like to cook, sight see, walk, run and taking my three pooches out for walkies. I am constantly studying something or other as I really enjoy learning much more than I ever did as a child. I like to meet up with friends for dinner, drinks and a good laugh and a catchup.

I also enjoy a good psychological drama that keeps me guessing till the end!!

www.anitasmiththerapy.com

Natasha Singh – PICT Supervisor

I am based in Maidstone, Kent and an experienced and qualified Counsellor, Registered Adoption Counsellor, PICT Psychotherapist/ Practitioner and PICT Supervisor. Various events throughout my life navigated me into the therapy world, leading to qualifying with an Advanced Diploma in Therapeutic Counselling in 2004. As well as attaining further therapeutic qualifications, I have developed a thriving private practice since qualifying in 2004.

I have had the privilege of working in a variety of settings throughout my career, some as therapist and some as non-therapist roles. Including domestic abuse, substance misuse, vulnerable adults, Criminal Justice System, ‘mental health’. One of the main influences on who I am today as a person and as a therapist I attribute to completing the PICT training and becoming part of the PICT community. This has been a profound journey for me and I am extremely proud to be a part of the PPT community.

Due to all my experiences and learnings, as a therapist I work with a wide range of ‘problem’ areas, however I specialise in working with abuse and ‘trauma’, and the impact this has on a person. Clients have often referred to me as a ‘user friendly’ therapist. I keep things simple, transparent, treat others the way I would like to be treated and hold a ‘can do’ approach. Although I have acquired a variety of therapeutic skills and knowledge, with PICT Therapy being at the heart of my skill set, I always aim to apply a bespoke and collaborative approach to everyone I work with, focusing on their individual needs.

My way of working is summed up by the following quote from Carl Rogers:
“In my early professional years I was asking the question: How can I treat, or cure, or change this person? Now I would phrase the question in this way: How can I provide a relationship which this person may use for his own personal growth?”

I'm passionate about all sorts of things but one of my main passions is learning and travelling to far flung places. Not just formal learning but learning in a wider context – about philosophy, people, life, our planet, different cultures, technology, new ideas, old ideas – just about everything!. Another key influence on me has been eastern philosophies such as Sikhism, Buddhism and Ayurveda.

I hold the appropriate professional accreditations and memberships with both BACP and NCS. I have indemnity insurance and am registered with the ICO as a data controller adhering to current data protection guidelines/laws. Lastly, being of Indian origins and born in the UK, I can speak 4 languages – English, Hindi, Urdu and Punjabi.

Cath Wakeman – PICT Supervisor

I am an experienced Art Therapist, Couple Counsellor, and PICT Practitioner, with a Diploma in Creative Supervision. I have used PICT with children, teenagers, and adults since training in 2015 and I completed my training as a PICT supervisor in 2022.

PICT provides clients with an amazing toolkit of interventions, whether or not they are completing the trauma processing or simply dipping into one or two of the exercises e.g. processing grief or anger as part of their therapy. I am passionate about being part of the team, sharing the benefits of PICT more widely both for clients and for practitioners.

I have specialised in working with children, young people and adults who have been affected by child sexual abuse, however I am comfortable using PICT with a whole range of client issues and particularly love the way that PICT supports clients to stay in charge, whilst being safely guided by the visualisations and information provided.

I am excited now to be offering supervision to other PICT practitioners and happy to work online or face to face at my workplace, IMARA CIO, in Nottingham.

www.imara.org.uk

Rod Tallowin – Director

I am Penny's husband (now widower) and have played a part in the development of PICT since its inception. The dedication in Penny's first book (Rescuing the Inner Child) probably explains it best: “To Rod: my loving husband, loyal and supportive friend, financial backer and respected adviser - you are the treasure I thought I would never find.”

Although having undertaken the PICT Training course, I am primarily a business consultant, writer and digital content creator, and am in the final stages of completing my own book and associated workshops entitled: "Claiming Your Identity".

After a long delay, due to both Penny's death and the Covid pandemic, I am now working with Senior Trainer Susan Osborne to relaunch the PICT Trauma and Abuse Specialist Skills Diploma Course in October 2022. My aim is to build on Penny's legacy of PICT and take it forward into the future. To that end we are planning to train more trainers to make the course more accessible in other parts of the country and abroad.

In addition we are investigating the possibility of making the training both more accessible and affordable through the use of technology (video, audio, digital files as well as the likes of Zoom and Skype).