Edward Higgins

Provide consultancy for schools and education centres, with a focus on supporting children who struggle within mainstream education.

I work with schools around safeguarding, emotional wellbeing, and inclusion.

I also facilitate weekly online open evenings for individuals looking to train as counsellors and psychotherapists.

I am a qualified counsellor with over a decade of experience working across education, safeguarding, mental health, and specialist SEND/SEMH settings. My work spans therapeutic practice, school-based consultancy, and leadership roles, supporting children, young people, and adults with complex emotional, behavioural, and mental health needs.

I have held senior roles including Safeguarding Manager and Senior Mental Health Lead in secondary and specialist SEN schools, where I led whole-school approaches to mental health, managed safeguarding processes, worked closely with families and multi-agency partners, and supported children unable to access mainstream education. My experience includes risk assessment, early help identification, child protection referrals, staff training, and the development of inclusive, trauma-informed practice.

Alongside my school-based work, I maintain a private counselling practice, working with adults and young people presenting with issues including addiction, loss, anger, depression, and relationship difficulties, both remotely and face-to-face.

I also work within counsellor and psychotherapist training, facilitating open events for prospective students at the Institute of Psychosynthesis. This involves introducing core therapeutic concepts, holding reflective spaces, and supporting individuals to understand training pathways and the personal and professional demands of therapeutic work. In addition, I have held a Head of Administration role within a psychotherapy training organisation, contributing to systems development, team management, and academic planning.

Overall, my professional experience combines direct therapeutic work, safeguarding leadership, education-based mental health support, and training facilitation, with a strong emphasis on inclusion, relational practice, and systemic change.

I hold an MA in Psychosynthesis Psychology from the Institute of Psychosynthesis, alongside a Certificate in Psychosynthesis Counselling, providing a strong theoretical and experiential foundation for therapeutic practice. My training integrates psychological theory, reflective practice, and relational work, supporting both individual counselling and work within educational and organisational settings.

I also hold a Foundation Degree in Arts from the University of Central Lancashire, contributing to my creative, reflective, and person-centred approach to learning and facilitation.

In addition, I have completed extensive specialist professional training relevant to safeguarding, mental health, and education, including Senior Mental Health Lead (SMHL) training, Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE), Team Teach (Level 2), suicide prevention, self-harm risk reduction, motivational strategies for working with young people, and multi-agency work with resistant families. These qualifications underpin my safeguarding-informed, trauma-aware practice across school, consultancy, and therapeutic roles