About Us
Flourish Network is a not-for-profit Community Interest Company (CIC). The Board has between us some 100 years of experience in counselling and psychotherapy; specialisms that are well-represented include counselling in disadvantaged communities and work with families and children. With more recent experience of philosophy, analysis and theory development, and supported by a growing network of experts in social and mental health fields, we are well-placed to be innovative in our development of new approaches to tackle mental health injustice.
Our directors are:
Della Austin
FdA MA MA MBACP(Accred)
Della has been a counsellor for thirty years; she counsels adults, children and young people. Having worked in education, health and the third sector, she has developed a strong interest in the impact of disadvantage on parent-child relationships: this led to her co-founding the charity Platform for Life. Before that she was Senior Lecturer at Glyndwr University where she taught counselling, both of adults and of children and young people.
Dinah Purton
MA BSc PGDip MBACP(Accred)
Dinah has 19 years’ experience counselling individuals, couples, families and young people. She has worked in a variety of settings including homeless hostels, schools, GP surgeries and charities. She has a particular interest in difference and diversity and recently completed an MA in Philosophy and Artificial Intelligence focussing on the importance of recognising differences in human flourishing needs in our increasingly technological world.
Andrew Garman
BSc MA PhD ALCM FRSC DipCC MBACP(Accred)
Andrew is an experienced counsellor of individuals and couples. He has an interest in counselling in disadvantaged communities, leading him to co-found Platform for Life in 2017. Andrew is a scientist by background with experience in strategy development. He has recently completed an MA course in Philosophy: this has helped develop his thinking about the causes of psychological distress and how to better address this.
Rachael Hardman
BA MA PGDip CCTP ADHD-CSP
Rachael is an experienced counsellor, and works with adults and young people. She has worked in a variety of settings and has spent the past 7 years working with disadvantaged clients. She has a special interest in preventative mental health alongside trauma, loss, grief and ADHD. Rachael holds a MA in Clinical Counselling and has a background in healthcare; she was both a nursing tutor and an oncology nurse for many years, and she is a certified Grief Educator.
Harvey Lidstone-Lane
BSc MA MBACP MBPsS
Harvey is a counsellor and mental health practitioner with 12 years of experience working in a variety of mental health settings. He holds an MA in Philosophy and is working towards a doctorate in Forensic and Clinical Psychology. Harvey is interested in exploring how philosophy can inform new ways of thinking about and understanding distress and the human condition.