Gretchen is an experienced Family and Systemic Psychotherapist and Social Worker. She has worked in voluntary sector agencies, local authority and health settings for more than thirty years.

Gretchen began her career in the United States, working initially with women and children affected by domestic abuse, and later with vulnerable older adults and their families. After moving to the UK, she worked in London, first with adult mental health and substance misuse services, before spending more than a decade with specialist palliative care services. While working across several multidisciplinary teams in hospital and community settings, she developed interest in working with multi-agency networks. Gretchen’s clinical work focused on supporting couples and families affected by chronic and incurable illness, loss and bereavement, and trauma, which continues to be a core part of her current practice.

Over the past seven years, Gretchen worked as a specialist clinician in children’s social care teams in Cambridgeshire, with a particular focus on families affected by domestic abuse, while further developing her skills in team consultation, clinical supervision, and teaching. She was also a tutor for systemic training courses for the Tavistock Centre and Anglia Ruskin University. Throughout this time, Gretchen has maintained an independent therapy practice, as well as providing clinical supervision and organisational consultation, primarily using narrative approaches. Gretchen is an active member of the Refugee Resilience Collective, a group of volunteer therapists and psychologists who use collaborative approaches to work with displaced people and NGOs in Northern France and the UK.