Gary Powell's work on emotional well-being in the school and workplace draws on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) as a model that encourages giving up the futile struggle with those painful thoughts and feelings that arise in the natural process of living, shedding the unhelpful rules and psychological programming we have picked up from people around us in the course of our lives, and identifying and committing to our deepest values.
In his work on the application of ACT, Gary's approach is also informed by an interest in relationship counselling, existential psychotherapy and transpersonal psychology. He has carried out counselling work for a south London NHS clinic, is a Member of the Association for Contextual Behavioural Science, and belongs to the South London Group for Acceptance and Commitment Therapists. He also takes an interest in the support of children and adults who have Austistic Spectrum Disorders, where he believes ACT can make a profoundly helpful contribition, particularly in the area of co-morbid disorders.
Gary has many years' experience with the promotion of emotional intelligence and well-being in the school and workplace. After graduating with First Class Honours in Philosophy and Modern Languages from Oxford University, he worked in the Corporate Taxation Department of Coopers & Lybrand (now PricewaterhouseCoopers), before returning to Oxford to complete a Postgraduate Certificate in Education. For over seventeen years Gary worked in Greater London schools, and for fifteen of these years he was Head of Department and a sixth form tutor. During this time, he became increasingly concerned about the emotional well-being of both staff and students working in an increasingly stressful environment, and about how people can easily become disconnected from awareness of their deepest values when they have so little time and energy left to detach from the externally imposed demands, and instead consider what they really want their life to be about. He now teaches children with special educational needs.
He has spoken on adolescent emotional well-being at local and national conferences, given presentations to psychologists and GPs on stress, and his materials introducing Acceptance and Commitment Therapy have been used to support patients at hospitals and clinics in the U.K., U.S.A. and Australia.
The personal, interpersonal and transpersonal value of Forgiveness is a theme of particular interest to Gary, and his presentations on Forgiveness and Anxiety can be accessed via this site by clicking on the links. (They are large files and may take a minute to open). The Forgiveness presentation is also included on the Related Websites page of the Compassionate Mind Foundation website.
Gary is available for presentations and seminars throughout the U.K. Please send an e-mail to contact@garypowell.org for further information.