KindfulWay Psychotherapy & Mindfulness in Hove with Paul Johanson

How I work
My greatest joy is to work together with others, combining our strengths, on the knottiest and most difficult of problems. I am warm, easy-going and a natural communicator who will put you at your ease and help you to feel safe so that we can build a trusting relationship, whether in one-to-one work or in group situations. I have a very broad experience of life and have worked with an extraordinarily wide range of people from different backgrounds during my professional career.

My experience
I began working in the Probation Service in 1991, after 10 years in a wide variety of jobs - from the civil service, through sales and financial advice, to the music industry. I trained as a Probation Officer in 1994 and worked in substance misuse, homelessness and with children & families. I began working with people suffering from serious mental health conditions in 1998. I managed the Crawley & Horsham Rehabilitation Service for the NHS, Social Services and Richmond Fellowship from 2000 to 2003 and managed the Brighton and Hove Assertive Outreach Service for Sussex Partnership Trust from 2003-2006.

From 2006-2008 I worked for the Sussex Cancer Network as the Macmillan Psychological and Psychiatric Support Services Project Manager. I worked across Sussex, appraising services and writing a report to help the network meet its obligations regarding mental health support to patients across Sussex. As a clinician, I was based in the Community Palliative Care Team at the Martlets Hospice in Hove, offering psychological and psychiatric advice, support and interventions to cancer patients, carers and cancer professionals across Brighton and Hove. I was a facilitator on the Advanced Communications Skills Training (ACST) for Cancer Professionals run by the National Cancer Action Team.

From 2008 to 2013 I worked as the Regional Programme Manager for the Mental Health and Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) programme in South East England. I led on improving mental health support to Military veterans in Kent, Surrey and Sussex as well as rolling out the Knowledge and Understanding Framework (KUF) for Personality Disorders. From 2013 to 2015 I was the Regional Patient Experience Manager for NHS England South Region, helping to ensure that compassion is at the heart of all interactions between NHS staff and their patients.

I began working as a Cognitive Analytic Therapist for Sussex Partnership Trust in 2009 as part of my role at the Strategic Health Authority. Since 2015 I have been in full-time private practice.

Training
Solution-Focused Brief Therapy, Marlborough Clinic
Cognitive Behavioural Interventions, East Sussex Probation Service
Diploma in Social Work - Brunel University
BA (Hons) 1st Class Applied Social Studies - Brunel University
Family Therapy for Schizophrenia / Psychosocial Interventions, Institute of Psychiatry
Motivational Interviewing, Association for Psychological Therapies
Advanced Communication Skills Facilitator, National Cancer Action Team
PG Dip Cognitive Analytic Therapy, Sheffield Hallam University
Mindful Self Compassion (MSC) Teacher Training, Center for MSC, San Diego, California
Inter-regional Residential ACAT Psychotherapy Training (IRRAPT), Association for Cognitive Analytic Therapy
EMDR training (parts 1 & 2), Richman EMDR Training. London
Self-Compassion in Psychotherapy (SCIP) training, Center for Mindful Self Compassion, San Diego, California


Meditation and Mindfulness
I have been practising meditation since 1987 and have been teaching mindfulness meditation since 2007. When I worked for the Sussex Cancer Network I ran Mindfulness groups for staff and patients at the Martlets Hospice in Hove. Since 2009 I have been teaching mindfulness and compassion-based meditation at Sussex University. I also teach Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC) and am a fully trained MSC teacher with the Centre for MSC (in the USA) and the Centre for Mindfulness Research and Practice at Bangor University in Wales. I am currently the Buddhist Chaplain at the University of Sussex and the Community Buddhist Chaplain at the Martlets Hospice.