Art by Milo
Hello!
My name is Cameron and I’d like to introduce myself.
tl;dr – I am a Medical and Cognitive Anthropologist, SEN professional and Therapeutic Counsellor who brings neuroscience, social context, diversity and therapeutic insights to this blog and to my practice.
I received my PhD in Medical and Cognitive Anthropology from the University of Georgia, Department of Ecological and Environmental Anthropology in 2004. My doctoral research was on how Tzeltal Maya in the Highlands of Chiapas Mexico understand the body and how it informs their medical system.
When I qualified I moved to Canterbury to take up work at the University of Kent. Along the way I have taught a wide range of classes:
- Introduction to Social Anthropology (the wide range of different cultures and their varying aspects)
- Cognitive Anthropology (what does a human mind do and how does this interplay with culture and society)
- Foundations of Human Culture (human origins and evolution and other primates)
- Medical Anthropology ( ecology, evolution and culture of health and illness, medicinal plants, traditional healing, drug discovery)
- Anthropology of Religion
- Native American Culture
- Ethnohistory (history from the perspective of the ones who did not write it)
As my family grew it was difficult to travel to remote locations for extended periods. I started a new research project on identity in online environments. In looking for a ‘field’ site drug forums, especially psychedelic channels, were interesting from both medical and cognitive points of view. Based on this research I co-founded Breaking Convention in 2011, a registered UK charity (from 2015) that puts on conferences on psychedelic research and culture.
In 2012, I left academia to work in Special Educational Needs (SEN) for Enterprise Learning Alliance, a pupil referral unit – a small secondary school for students unable to manage mainstream schools – that had units along the Kent coast from Thanet to Dover. Among other roles, I became a Schools Mental Health Champion and began my training in earnest to become a counsellor. I also became the Designated Teacher for Looked After Children at Wye School where I provided pastoral support for children in care while also working with the professionals around them (social workers, local authorities, virtual schools) to support the young people’s educational and therapeutic needs.
I saw my first counselling client in 2020 and qualified as a therapist in 2021. I took a job in the NHS for the Children and Young People’s Counselling Service and started a private practice and have been counselling ever since.
With these perspectives at play I hope to bring a unique voice to my practice. From my academic history, I bring an analytic understanding of the social and cultural factors that affect us all, and a working understanding of how the brain and mind work to create our understanding of the world. From my SEN experience I bring insights into neurodiversity, learning styles and helpful tools and hacks that can benefit everyone, whether neurodiverse or not. And from my therapeutic practice I bring the compassion, empathy and awareness of the pressures and struggles we face that can only come from the privilege of deep engagement with many people over time. All of these perspectives build to a deep respect of diversity and identity and the tensions between fitting in and being truly ourselves.
In this blog, I plan to pull apart therapeutic concepts and approaches, muse on ideas I have about emerging patterns in society, and try to gain a little bit of wisdom about the human condition. I hope it will be useful for people interested in this stuff, to counselling clients who want to know a bit about what certain approaches have to offer and even, occasionally a useful practice or worksheet for you to use.
Cameron Adams Couselling 