"Making Counselling Accessible..."
Life Changes Counselling
Life Changes recognises that our clients are the foundation of our service. Our relationship with them is based on the principle of mutual respect. We aim to build on what we do well and develop our service to respond to meet changing needs.
Meet the Team
Chris Orton
Chair
Liz Rose Coordinator
Amy Thomas Asst Coordinator
Trustees:
Ben Rose
Secretary/Trustee
Anne Hall
Trustee
Donna Close
Trustee
James Coote
Trustee
Steve Maidment
Trustee
Karen Goodison
Trustee
Chris Orton / Chair
Chris is a chartered engineer who has spent half his career working as an engineer in senior civil service roles and the other half as a Management Consultant within the Health Sector, with a focus in Primary care and procurement. He has considerable operational management experience and is keen to use this to help Life Changes maintain a sustainable future. As CEO of a local GP federation he has direct experience of LCC, having contracted them to deliver services to their patients.
Philip Meakins / Trustee
Philip a retired GP and previous Chair of Life Changes Counselling has maintained a special interest in Mental Health issues and many years ago was the first GP in the area to employ a counsellor as part of his practice team. His involvement with Life Changes came about because he wanted to improve local Mental Health provision.
Liz Rose / Coordinator
Liz has 26 years of small business experience, and is a qualified Gestalt Counsellor with her own successful private practice. Liz is our Lead Coordinator at LCC offering support to the Clients, Counsellors and Trustees.
Liz has had a connection with Life Changes for many years, by volunteering firstly as a student counsellor and continuing to offer her services once qualified before taking on the role as a supporting coordinator. Liz fully endorses The Life Changes Mission Statement, as she feels it is important to be able to offer affordable counselling services to those in our community who need it most.
Steve Maidment / Trustee
Steve has been practising as a counsellor for over 10 years and has qualifications in Person-Centred Counselling (Dip(HE)), Humanistic & Integrative Counselling (BA(Hons)), Clinical Supervision (PG Cert) and an NCFE Level 3 Award in Education and Training. Previously to counselling, Steve worked as a Youth Support Worker and has an associated qualification – Level 3 LDSS (Learning, Development and Support Services for Children, Young People and Those Who Care for Them) and also attained a City & Guilds Level 2 qualification for IT users (ITQ).
Steve uses the knowledge acquired from all of these courses to enhance his own practise and the administrative processes within the two charities and two college counselling services he currently works for, as well as his own private counselling and supervision practice which is just entering its fifth year of operation. Until recently, he was also lecturing on a level 5 counselling course within one of the two colleges.
Steve holds membership of the BACP and accredited membership of the NCPS and intends to study towards becoming a Counselling Psychologist at some point in the future. Whilst he prefers to avoid using the term specialism when referring to his counselling practise, Steve has an amplitude of experience in supporting people through bereavement and loss, depression, anxiety, self-harm, suicidal ideation, stress (including work related stress), bullying, substance misuse, sexuality and gender identity.
Amy Thomas / Asst Coordinator
Amy is a qualified person-centred counsellor in private practice and has professional and personal experience in supporting individuals with their mental well-being. She began her journey with life changes in 2020 as a volunteer counsellor. Since qualifying with a 1st class honours degree, Amy continued to offer her services as a counsellor with life changes but has more recently taken on the role of assistant coordinator, alongside her flourishing Private Practice. Amy has a kind, caring and compassionate approach and is committed to making a difference in people's lives and the community as a whole.
Ben Rose / Secretary - Trustee
Ben is a practicing solicitor specialising in commercial and data protection. As well as his legal career, Ben has always had a personal interest in mental health which led to his involvement with Life Changes Counselling.
Anne Hall / Trustee
Anne Is a retired Humanistic / Gestalt counsellor , supervisor and trainer, whose main role was developing and coordinating a counselling department at a local college. With a background in modern language teaching Anne originally saw the need for wider mental health provision in schools, later moving into counselling adults in the NHS and private practice. Anne is committed to supporting Life Changes in its mission to offer accessible, affordable counselling to the community.
Donna Close - Trustee
Donna Close is a qualified counsellor with over two years’ experience supporting clients, alongside a professional background in HR. Through her work, Donna has developed strong skills in wellbeing support, policy development, and safeguarding practices. Working closely with individuals from a wide range of backgrounds has given Donna valuable insight into creating safe, supportive, and inclusive environments where people feel heard, respected, and understood.
Alongside her counselling practice, Donna serves as a trustee for Life Changes Counselling, where she supports safeguarding responsibilities and contributes to the development and review of policies. Donna holds a Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) Qualification, which strengthens her ability to support ethical practice, client safety, and organisational wellbeing.
Donna is passionate about her involvement with Life Changes and committed to helping the charity continue to provide a compassionate, professional, and safe environment for all clients, staff, and volunteers.
James Coote- Trustee
James Coote is a qualified counsellor and trustee at Life Changes Counselling. He holds a Level 6 BSc top-up in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and a Higher Diploma in Gestalt Counselling (Level 5), both from the University of Portsmouth, and a Level 3 qualification in Counselling Skills from City College Southampton.
James works in private practice and has professional experience supporting individuals presenting with OCD, anxiety, and anxiety-related disorders, alongside other common mental health difficulties. His clinical background is informed by both Gestalt and Cognitive Behavioural approaches, contributing to a broad and evidence-informed understanding of mental health provision.
Prior to training as a counsellor, James spent 18 years running his own business as a driving instructor. This experience has provided him with a strong foundation in governance, safeguarding responsibilities, risk management, and the practicalities of running a sustainable service.
James’ values align closely with the ethos of Life Changes Counselling, particularly the charity’s commitment to providing low-cost counselling to individuals who may otherwise be unable to access support due to financial barriers. As a trustee, he is committed to supporting the charity’s strategic development, ethical practice, and long-term sustainability, and to helping ensure that accessible counselling services remain available within the community.
Karen Goodison- Trustee
Karen Goodison ( née Temple) is Emeritus Professor of Medical Genetics at the University of Southampton and a retired consultant in Clinical Genetics at Southampton General Hospital. She has spent her career seeing patients and researching genetic causes of human diseases. She uses this experience of medicine and counselling to support LifeChanges to make a difference for the local community.
