Testimonial from Headway, Oxford

Deb has been delivering workshops to our groups of brain injured adults for 5 years. She works with up to 15 people at a time each with very different needs ranging from no or limited speech to physical disabilities to aggressive or demanding behaviour, including emotional issues, and brings resources for those with difficulties with memory due to their injuries.

Deb has a fantastic ability to ensure that everybody in the group gets their chance to speak and get their views across, her patience is incomparable and she never loses her focus on the topic of the workshop or her mission to ensure everyone in the group gains something from the session. She has a personal warmth that she brings to every workshop and her ability to remain professional but still maintain a sense of fun is admirable.

All clients that take part in Deb's workshops feel secure in the knowledge that she will bring a lot of experience to the session; she can handle any situation she is put in and deal appropriately with all emotions and responses from the group. Deb always spends a good amount of time researching the topic she will work with at the group and brings a good foundation of knowledge to the session, Deb always uses a range of techniques to ensure that everybody can access the workshop and get involved with a method that appeals to their learning style. She is always well prepared with a good range of appropriate activities for the session and challenges each client to take as much away from the session as they can.

All the clients that come to Deb's sessions enjoy them and come away feeling like they have learnt something; more often than not they have learnt something about themselves or their behaviour. Although there are some problems with memory loss for the group they can always remember who Deb is and what she does for us as she is the woman 'who taught us how to say no!' if this doesn't sum up quite how powerful and long lasting the effects of Deb's workshops are I don't know what does!

As a staff member at headway I feel secure when Deb is coming in the knowledge that she will ensure the clients are all well guided through the workshop and feel looked after. I always have the opportunity to raise and discuss any specific issues with clients with Deb prior to the session so that she can build dealing with these issues into her workshop. She also asks me ahead of time if there is anything in specific I would like her to focus on.

I would recommend Deb as a trainer to anyone that is looking, and I am sure that all the clients she works with at Headway would too. She is thorough, keeps things interesting and engaging and extremely flexible at allowing the workshop to take different directions if the clients want to discuss certain topics.

Nicki Holland, Formerly Activity and Rehabilitation Co-Ordinator, Headway, Oxford