Ila Bell - In-Sight trainer

Since 1983, I have worked within the support side of many ‘not for profit’ organisations. During this time, I have supported all types of vulnerable client groups, including groups from Ethnic Minorities, by providing services to enable them to re-integrate into mainstream society. Prior to this, my employment was in the Department of Works and Pensions.
From 1991 to 2002, I was Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) officer for one of the biggest Housing Associations for Older people and I worked with Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire, Essex & Haringey local authorities to promote services to Ethnic elders.
In 1997 I trained as a Psychosynthesis Counsellor (www.psychosynthesis.org) and worked for Mind the Mental Health Charity and also as a generic counsellor.
In 2000, I helped set up a Mental Health Project for an Asian Women’s Organisation and have been their counselor, which has only deepened my experience in Domestic Violence counselling.
From 2000 to 2003, I also established and managed a pilot project for counselling young people aged 16-18 whilst working for Enfield Youth Service.
Furthermore, in 2005, I took the step from being a volunteer trainer to a professional trainer via City & Guilds qualifications. Since then, I have set up my own training and counselling consultancy and run workshops in a variety of subjects aimed at professional and individual development.
I have 25 years of experience in working with vulnerable client groups in different capacities within the Supporting People field, through which I have formed a framework of empowering service users to set them on the road to recovery.

How I work

I work within the Psychosynthesis framework, which is founded on the principle that each human being has a vast potential that is generally largely unrecognised and unused. It also believes that we each have, within ourselves, the power to access that potential. Psychosynthesis is often seen as an unfolding process whereby the person actually possesses an inner wisdom or knowledge of what is needed for that process at any given time.

I came across the In-Sight training and was very impressed by its ethos, which matches the psycosynthesis values of self-power and self-determination, and the excellent service user-led qualities of the project. Hence, I am very excited to take this training to the wider market so that a greater number of service users, carers and mental health staff are able to access it.