About Us

Lohani is the founding director of ThIRST.

She is a UKCP Registered Psychotherapist with AccCOSRT. Her first training was in Transactional Analysis Psychotherapy, completing the four-year diploma. She then went on to complete a MSc in Psychosexual Therapies.

Lohani regularly delivers training for COSRT members and sits on the board of trustees. She is also an active volunteer, having established and further developing a national network of therapeutic groups for adults who experienced the care system as children.

Lohani is based in Manchester UK, where she runs a private therapeutic practice, she is available in person and online worldwide. Lohani is also the proud mother of her teenage son, who she raised as a single parent. She has a passion for the gym, fine wine, food and travel.

Author of audible classic, ‘12 steps to sexual connection’

Dr Naomi Sutton qualified in 2003 from Sheffield medical school, completing her Membership of the Royal College of Physicians in 2006. She went on train in Genito-Urinary Medicine gaining further accreditations in this speciality before taking up her Consultant post at Rotherham Integrated Sexual Health Services in 2016 where, as part of her role, she acts as the FSRH Training Programme Director. Wanting to better understand the complexities of sexual problems, she developed a passion for psychosexual medicine, attending the ESSM School of Sexual Medicine in Budapest and going on to pass the FECSM exam (Fellow of the European Society of Sexual Medicine).
Naomi is passionate about education and raising awareness of her speciality, both to other health care professionals and the general public, appearing as the Doctor on the TV series ‘The Sex Clinic’ and ‘Steph’s Packed Lunch’ and featuring on several podcasts. Naomi speaks locally and nationally with the primary aim of reducing stigma and enhancing patient experience by improving knowledge around all aspects of Sexual Health

Below is a list of resources for your students;
I have highlighted in bold the essentials, the rest are if people are interested

‘HIV in focus’ SERIES 2 podcast – available on Spotify, apple, acast etc – I host this with some really amazing guests – the kings and queens of the HIV world! Easy to listen to 30 min podcasts covering lots of important topics.
AIDSMAP, National AIDS Trust and Terrance Higgins Trust are great sites for basic info. AIDSMAP has patient stories on which give an insight into living with HIV and the impact of stigma.
And the Band Played On: Politics, People, and the AIDS Epidemic, is a good book if people are interested to understand more about the initial epidemic starting from the US perspective in the 1980’s
‘It’s a sin’ on Channel 4 is a must watch!
I would not recommend reading BHIVA guidelines although some of the statements on the website, for example on breast feeding, your students might find helpful.

Brook is a good place to go to have a read to get a basic understanding of STIs
(Also good for contraception info)
The BASHH (British Association of Sexual Health and HIV) website is a place to go for more in depth reading

Another good contraception site is ‘Contraception choices’ which is very good for patients too.
The FSRH guidelines are available if people wanted to read in more detail about this area

The FPA will imminently host the school resources which we talked about which have been PHSE accredited. The videos for a lot of them should be free to watch still on line.

Other good resources are Outspoken Sex Ed (they do a newsletter 3 or 4 a year I think) which I find really relevant to keeping myself abreast in what is happening with ‘the youth!’.

Labia libraries (NZ site) is also a great place to go to understand the amazing variety of labia which I spend a lot of my time reassuring women about!

BW
Naomi
Dr Naomi Sutton
Consultant Physician
Rotherham Sexual Health Services
The Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust

Work phone number; 01709 427226

Please note my working days are Monday, Wednesday and Thursday.

Dr Karl Hollows is both a medical sexual health specialist and senior accredited COSRT psychosexual therapist.

He qualified from Birmingham medical school in 1998 and took an atypical approach to further sexual health training in both Genitourinary Medicine and Contraceptive care. During that time, he recognised a passion for supporting those with sexual problems, sought out further training and qualified as a psychosexual therapist in 2008 when he established a local NHS service.

He subsequently passed the FECSM (Fellow of the European Committee of Sexual Medicine) examination in 2016 and became an EFS & ESSM Certified Psycho-Sexologist (ECPS) in 2020, becoming the first person in the UK to achieve both qualifications.

He now works across two NHS Trusts leading their Psychosexual Medicine and Therapy Services. He has no private practice.

Karl has woven education throughout his career with regard sexual and psychosexual health and speaks both locally and nationally. He holds honorary contracts with two UK universities and has taught on psychosexual therapy postgraduate courses for several years.

I have worked for the last 15 years as a relationship therapist, working in private practice and for third-sector organisations. I work with individuals, couples, and diverse relationships, almost exclusively with GSRD clients. I graduated with a Masters in Relationship Therapy and I am now a Clinical Associate of Pink Therapy and an Advanced Accredited Specialist in GSRD Counselling.
I have been a tutor at Relate for 7 years and rewrote the Level 4 and Level 5 courses to make them more inclusive and affirmative of gender, sex, and relationship diversity. I have delivered individual CPD days and wrote the BACP Private Practice Magazine column on Relationships for several years. Along with my colleague Niki D I currently run the UKs only in depth course for counsellors who work with open and polyam relationships.
I work as a supervisor focussed on supporting counsellors who need additional support in working with GSRD clients, as well as kink, sex workers, and other marginalised groups.
I am queer, kinky, and in a (mostly!) happy polyam relationship and I bring this lived experience to my work.
You can read more about me and my approach on my website: https://kascounselling.org/

Professor Geoffrey Hackett was a consultant in Urology at University Hospitals Birmingham Foundation trust from 1994 – 2020 and Professor of Sexual Medicine at Aston University Birmingham since 2017. He works as a Consultant in Urology and Sexual Medicine at Spire Hospital, Little Aston, Birmingham since 1998.

 He was also as a primary care physician for 34 years from 1978-2012. Professor Hackett was Chairman of the British Society for Sexual Medicine from 2005–2007 and has been on the Scientific Committee of the European Society for Sexual Medicine from 2003–2009, Executive Committee of ESSM from 2015-2017 and  ISSM 2009-2012.

He is currently Chairman of the Ethics committee of the ISSM and  Committee member of the Androgen Society.

The Author of 180 original papers, 5 textbooks, and 16 book chapters on sexual medicine including the BSSM Guidelines on both erectile dysfunction (2018) and testosterone Deficiency (2023), Professor Hackett received the Zorgniotti-Newman Prize in 2012 at the International Society for Sexual Medicine’s World Meeting on Sexual Medicine in Chicago for his work on testosterone deficiency in Type 2 diabetes. He is a past winner of the Duke of Edinburgh Prize for Sports Medicine in 1992 and the Charles Oliver Hawthorne Clinical Prize from the British Medical Association for original research in 1986. His major areas of interest are the links between erectile dysfunction, testosterone deficiency, metabolic syndrome, and cardiovascular and diabetic risk

QUALIFICATIONS: MBBS Kings College Hospital London 1973, MRCPI 1984, FRCPI 2008, Fellow of the European College of Sexual Medicine 2014

AWARDS: Zorgniotti-Newman Prize in 2012, the Duke of Edinburgh Prize for Sports Medicine in 1992, the Charles Oliver Hawthorne Clinical Prize from the British Medical Association for original research in 1986

Lynn is a COSRT Accredited Psychosexual and Relationship Therapist and EMDR practitioner. She retired from NHS following nearly 30 years as a gynae-oncology clinical nurse specialist and advanced nurse practitioner to focus on her psychotherapy practice specialising in sex, relationship & trauma.

Throughout her career she has been passionate about all aspects of care especially survivorship issues and worked innovatively in developing services locally and nationally. She has written extensively on the impact of cancer on sexuality for over twenty years, publishing and presenting both on a national and international level. Her motivation to become a Psychosexual and Relationship Therapist was as a direct result of the patients in her care who experienced devastating changes to their sexual lives due to a cancer diagnosis and treatment.

Lynn writes and presents extensively on the impact of cancer on sexual well-being and has authored national guidance on management of gynaecological cancer. She continues to work with cancer charities and other agencies supporting their work with this, often overlooked, aspect of care.

Lisa Etherson is a PhD researcher exploring shame and compulsive sexual behaviour in adult men. As a result of her research she has created Shame Containment Theory, an new approach to shame. Lisa is an advisor to local authorities in safeguarding reviews, trainer and conference speaker and published academic.
Lisa is a Psychosexual Therapist and has run private practice in the north east of England for over a decade.

Lisa Etherson Psychosexual Therapist – PhD Researcher
The Shame Training Co.

7-8 Upper Norfolk St
North Shields, NE30 1PT
07731555698

www.lisaetherson.com

www.shametraining.com

Publications
Etherson, L. (2023). Shame containment theory. Attachment, 17(2), 141-154.
https://firingthemind.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Article-Open-Access.pdf

Myira is a multi-award-winning Accredited Counsellor, Supervisor, Coach, Trainer, Founder of the Muslim Counsellor and Psychotherapist Network (MCAPN), and author of Working Within Diversity – A Reflective Guide to Anti-Oppressive Practice in Counselling and Therapy (published July 2023).

Myira has over 14 years of clinical experience, alongside delivering workshops, trainings and events internationally on Working Within Diversity and anti-oppressive practice and is a regular keynote speaker and
presenter at conferences and events.

Working Within Diversity, both the book and the accompanying workshop and training series, is a culmination of her counselling and supervision experience alongside her extensive teaching and training experience delivering workshops on identity, culture and diversity, to create a robust foundation and framework for anti-oppressive practice in therapy, supervision, coaching and all practitioner-led practices and professions, across all modalities.

As the Founder of the Muslim Counsellor and Psychotherapist Network (MCAPN), established over 10 years ago, Myira runs the network for Muslim counsellors, therapists and psychologists, offering support, CPD opportunities and raising the visibility of Muslim practitioners. A visibly Muslim, ethnically-minoritized, neurodivergent/ADHD practitioner, Myira represents a diversity and intersectional identity within the therapeutic and coaching professions, supporting the establishment of diversity, anti-oppressive practice and culturally-attuned practice within the profession, alongside promoting counselling and coaching to ethnically-minoritized, Muslim, neurodivergent and under-represented, marginalised and intersectional communities and clients.

Dr Brendan J Dunlop (BSc Hons, ClinPsyD, FHEA, CPsychol) (he/him) is a Principal Clinical Psychologist, Cognitive Behavioural Psychotherapist and Managing Director of Rainbow Junction Therapy (www.rainbowjunctiontherapy.co.uk). He works in the NHS and also as the Deputy Director for Research and Clinical Lecturer in Clinical Psychology on The University of Manchester’s clinical psychology training programme. In his NHS role, Dr Dunlop works as the Clinical Lead for the Associate Psychological Practitioners workforce initiative. In his university role he teaches and supervises research on LGBTQ+ mental health and supervises Trainee Clinical Psychologists delivering Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. In addition, Dr Dunlop works in an independent capacity providing psychological therapy to young people and adults, many of whom are from the LGBTQ+ communities.

He regularly teaches on LGBTQ+ mental health and wellbeing and provides training and consultation to a wide variety of organisations on this topic too. He has published 16 peer-reviewed papers and numerous book chapters on bisexual mental health, adapting CBT for LGBTQ+ populations, and adapting clinical formulation for LGBTQ+ populations. He is Associate Editor of the academic journal Psychology and Psychotherapy: Theory, Research and Practice. Dr Dunlop’s debut book The Queer Mental Health Workbook (the first-of-its-kind LGBTQ+ self-help resource) published worldwide on 21st March 2022. Find him on Twitter/X: @BrendanJDunlop1 and visit his website at: www.drbrendan.co.uk

Julie Marshall is a UK based Psychosexual Therapist who specialises in compulsive sexual behaviours (CSB). She is an accredited member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) and a member of the College of Sexual and Relationship Therapists (COSRT). Julie is an active DProf researcher at the University of Chester. Her research interests lie in CSB, neurodiversity and epistemic justice. Julie is undertaking an assessment for Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD) and has a neurodivergent son.

Psychotherapist and Psychosexual Therapist

Doctoral Researcher in Compulsive Sexual Behaviour and ADHD (University of Chester)

MSc in Contemporary Psychosexual Therapy

BSc (Hons) Integrative Counselling & Psychotherapy

MBACP (Accredited)

Registered Member of COSRT and NCPS

Tel:07496668643

www.psychotherapydoncaster.co.uk/

Trudy Hannington is the Senior Psychosexual Therapist who leads a team of 4 psychosexual therapists at the Leger clinic at Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England.

Trudy has worked in sexual health for over 25 years and specialised as a psychosexual therapist in 2002 after training at the Porterbrook Clinic at Sheffield.

Trudy’s specialist interest is combining medical treatments with sex therapy to optimise outcomes for patients.
She is one of the founders of STOPSO (Special Treatment Organisation for Perpetrators and Survivors of Sexual Offending.
Trudy was also the specialist psychosexual therapist in the Channel 4 documentary “The Week The Women Came”

• Wrote the chapter on sex therapy in the 4th edition of the ABC of Sex
• Wrote the concluding chapter in the book "Testosterone Deficiency" by Professor Hugh Jones
• Written contribution to the BSSM (British Society For Sexual Medicine) Women’s Health Book including case studies.
• You tube video release on prostate cancer with male care
• Various radio and newspaper contributions
• Written the chapter for the new to be released book for STOPSO on why non offending partners stay with a sex offender titled “should I stay or should I go”

Senior Accredited member and Supervisor of COSRT (College for Sex & Relationship Therapists) and Fellow of COSRT

A former Chair of the College of Sexual and Relationship Therapists (COSRT).

Won Yorkshire Woman of the Year award in 2004.

She is also a Committee Member for the British Society of Sexual Medicine and current Treasurer.

Highly qualified in this field Trudy Hannington’s team has NHS contracts with a number of NHS areas in the region and also sees patients on a private basis.

She has lectured nationally and internationally, on the Management of Sexual Dysfunction, most recently in Florida, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

Leger Clinic is a flagship service, which offers a “one stop shop” for all areas of sexual difficulty, either medical or psychological.

For more information visit our website at www.legerclinic.co.uk

Julia is an Oncology Advanced Nurse Practitioner working in Manchester.  Through her work in cancer care, originally as a Clinical Nurse Specialist, Julia quickly became aware of the significant unmet need for patients to get support with the impact of their cancer diagnosis and treatment on their sexual wellbeing and went on to become a dual trained Psychosexual Therapist, a Member of the Institute of Psychosexual Medicine (IPM) and a qualified Member of the College of Sexual and Relationships Therapy (COSRT).

Julia is an experienced practitioner, working in NHS and private health care, and education. Julia is passionate about training other clinicians to talk about the important topic of sexual wellbeing and supporting them to develop their skills and confidence to address this area of care for their patients. In her role as therapist, Julia specialises in supporting people and couples affected by cancer and other long term health conditions. Julia uses a diverse range of tools in therapy with individuals and couples including psychodynamic, psychoanalytical and behavioural approaches. Julia is regularly invited to speak at national and international meetings to patients and clinicians about her experiences.

Silva Neves is an award-winning COSRT-accredited and UKCP-registered psychosexual and relationship psychotherapist, and a trauma psychotherapist. He is a Pink Therapy Clinical Associate.

Silva is a COSRT-accredited clinical supervisor.

Silva is a member of the editorial board for the leading international journal Sexual and Relationship Therapy.

Silva is the author of two books: Compulsive Sexual Behaviours, A Psycho-Sexual Treatment Guide for Clinicians (Routledge), Sexology: The Basics (Routledge), and he co-edited two textbooks with Dominic Davies: Erotically Queer (Routledge) and Relationally Queer (Routledge).

He also contributed chapters in various publications including: The Handbook of Social Justice in Psychological Therapies, Queering Gestalt Therapy, The SAGE Handbook of Counselling & Psychotherapy, Sexual Minorities and Mental Health: Current perspectives and New Directions.

Silva wrote several articles in psychotherapy magazines and journals, including New Psychotherapist, Therapy Today, Sexual and Relationship Therapy, The European Journal of Psychotherapy & Counselling, Attachment.

Silva speaks internationally.

Website:
https://www.silvaneves.co.uk
Facebook: Silva Neves – Psychotherapy
X: @SilvaNeves3
Instagram: @silvanevespsychotherapy
Threads: @silvanevespsychotherapy

I am a passionate and motivated Psychosexual Therapist with many years’ experience working for the NHS and in the Private Sector. I began my psychosexual journey in 2000 after completing a degree in Psychology and mainstream therapy qualifications. I have worked part-time for the NHS in addition to running my own private practice.

I am an Accredited Psychosexual Therapist, a BACP Accredited Therapist, a Cognitive Behavioural Therapist and EMDR Therapist. I am Psychosexual Service Lead for Bolton providing psychosexual intervention to individuals and couples, with sex and/or relationship difficulties.

I specialise in assessing young people who present with Harmful Sexualised Behaviour and providing intervention thereafter. (AIMS3 Trained)

I am an Independent Director for 1Point Bolton which is commissioned by Bolton NHS to accept referrals from patients registered with a local GP or with Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Trust.

I am also a university lecturer, teaching Psychosexual Therapy and to Post-Graduate Psychosexual students and take great pleasure in helping others to what I do.

I also have several years of experience providing psychosexual intervention with young people at Brook Young People’s Service.

I am a wife and a mum of 2 grown up children, who I am immensely proud of. After raising my children, without a doubt, my career is my calling in life and is the passion in my soul. I am truly grateful to have such a rewarding career and to have been given the skills to facilitate therapeutic growth with my clients.