Meet our team
The people who guide this work bring decades of experience and genuine commitment to human growth.



Joan Evans MA in Psychosynthesis Psychotherapy, was trained in microbiology, studied languagesand psychology and is a co-founder and director of the Institute of Psychosynthesis. She is Training Director, Chair of the Research and Development Group, and has largely been responsible for the design of its academic and training programmes as well as for research and publishing and has written several articles. She has also recently written and published “Psychosynthesis: A Psychospiritual Psychology”. Joan has been training professionals in psychosynthesis in the UK and Europe for 33 years, and has been active in the larger community steering psychotherapy training towards attaining professional status. She initiated the founding of AAPP, was the first chair of the European Federation for Psychosynthesis Psychotherapy, was Chair of HIPC and a member of the Governing Board of the UKCP from 1995 to1998.



Roger Evans MBA, BPharm, MRPS, MA in Psychosynthesis Psychotherapy, is a co-founder and managing director of the Institute of Psychosynthesis, and a senior trainer andsupervisor overseeing the development of a psychospiritual psychology with a special interest in psychological crises within the field of spiritual emergency. He was educated in psychotherapy, business administration and pharmacy, and spent more than twenty years in international management in North America and Europe. He is also the founder and Managing Director of a management consulting group, Creative Learning Consultants, which consults with both private and public sector organisations in Europe and the USA. Through his organisational work, he has developed a training in organisational consulting and coaching. He co-authored The Creative Manager, published in 1989.

Mickey Kaufmann BEd in Geography and English, MA in Psychosynthesis Psychotherapy, Cert.Life-Coaching. She is a training therapist; has a private psychotherapy practice in West London and works as an individual and organisational coach and supervisor. She has lived in the UK for 20 years, was born in Holland and spent the first 25 years of her working life mainly with the international environmental organisation, Greenpeace, in a variety of roles ranging from climbing chimneys, campaigning, setting up offices, running an international skill sharing and training programme, to being the executive director in Switzerland and Belgium. Her involvement with Greenpeace continues on a Board level and as consultant and coach.



Colette Hartgill has an MA in Psychosynthesis Psychotherapy. She lives in Cornwall with her two young daughters and delights in being close to the sea. Colette originally trained as an actress before running performing arts programmes for children and young people. She began her psychotherapy training in 2011 and currently works from home in private practice alongside working as a course and link tutor for the IOP. She has a keen interest in ecopsychology and the role of psychosynthesis in planetary transformation.

Richard Stokes PhD worked as a Clinical Psychologist from 1987, based in community mental health teams and in prisons/secure settings, up until 2003. He participated in the Psychotherapy training course at the Institute from 1996-2001 and since 2003 has moved into teaching postgraduate clinicians (clinical psychologists and psychiatric staff) in the following therapeutic specialisms: forensic psychology, cognitive behavioural therapy with adults, and assessing and working with challenging clients. Richard supervises students and staff, and facilitates an experiential group for psychologists in training in the NHS. He gained his PhD examining the facilitating impact of wilderness experience in counselling and therapy, at the University of Cambridge.

Anne Welsh has worked in the field of personal and professional development for over 30 years. She initially trained in psychology and practiced as a psychotherapist. Alongside this practice she was operations director of a psychological training and development institute, training people in coaching, psychotherapy and counselling. In the last 10 years, she has specialised in executive coaching and have worked with clients across the globe. Since 2010 she has been training and supervising employees at GlaxoSmithKline in Job-Plus Coaching.

Jane Mehta BA(Hons) Fine Art, MSc Computing Science, MA Psychosynthesis Psychotherapy. She lives in St Albans with her husband and two sons. She has a private practice in Hertfordshire and North London. Having married across cultures she has a longstanding and personal interest in the meeting of East and West and having grownup in Wales, she has a passion for being in the mountains and nature.



Angela Browne has an MA in Psychosynthesis Psychology and is a qualified Psychotherapist with a private practice in Surrey. She is a member of APP, UKCP and BACP. Angela joined the faculty as a Studies Advisor and a trainee Supervisor, Right Relations and Fundamentals apprentice. Angela is passionate about Psychosynthesis and doing what she can to bring our psychology as a way of Being into the world. Her other passions are her two Labradors who she loves walking the land with and training in agility and gun dog. She goes to the gym most days where she can be found on the Peloton, Boxing, Swimming and HIIT training. Beyond this her family are most important to her and this includes her interest and love in the Ancestors and her Celtic roots. She has a particular interest in her life of blending Psychosynthesis with Somatic Awareness alongside the work of BodySoul and The Marion Woodman and Foundation. She is currently undertaking CPD for a Graduate Certificate - Finding Ourselves in Fairytales: A Narrative Psychological Approach from Pacifica Graduate Institute and a Jungian Dream School year long course.

Dana Brass is a UKCP certified Psychosynthesis Psychotherapist. She earned her MA in Psychosynthesis Psychotherapy from Middlesex University/the Institute of Psychosynthesis. Dana holds a BA (Hons) in Fine Art from the Slade School of Art, UCL, London and a BA in Human Development from the School of Education at Boston College, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. Originally from the US, Dana settled in the UK in 1998. Dana has previously worked at MIND and at Active Arts (Hastings and Bexill MENCAP) as an inclusive arts and activities practitioner, as well as with other local community organisations on mental health and creativity. Currently, Dana works in private practice as a psychotherapist, and is on the faculty of the Institute of Psychosynthesis.



Mark Albery (BA (Hons) Applied SocialStudies and CQSW, MA Psychosynthesis Psychotherapy) has a background in social work and social work education. He has a private psychotherapy practice in East London. Mark maintains an interest in cross-cultural working and the healing potential of art and the natural world. He enjoys gardening and playing the guitar.



Siomar is a psychosynthesis psychotherapist and counsellor based in West London, specialising in areas such as identity, trauma, addiction and existential crisis. She is UKCP registered and a member of the APP.
She has an extensive background working across thespectrum of mental health with over a decade’s experience in psychiatricsettings within the NHS and mental health charities. She also previously workedas a yoga and meditation teacher which continues to influence her therapeuticapproach.
Siomar has been a faculty member at the Institute of Psychosynthesis since 2022, working as a clinical supervisor, group worker (right relations) and facilitator for fundamentals courses. Psychosynthesis training was a transformative experience in her life and she feels privileged to be able to support student’s in their own journey.



Gertrude Gill, Phd. MUKCP, EMCC, has been working in community, education, and corporate settings over the past 30 years. She works as a Psychosynthesis Psychotherapist, Trainer, Supervisor, 5DL Leadership and Organisational Coach. She has facilitated and managed the building of pastoral and mental health programmes in addiction clinical treatment, educational, corporate and diocesan settings.



Harriet is a Psychosynthesis leadership coach, facilitator and supervisor. She lives in Nottinghamshire where she is helping the family farm along a regenerative direction and facilitates groups here with her herd of horses in the peace of the landscape. She facilitates Right Relations and supervision groups for students at the institute as well as being available for individual sessions. Previously she has been a journalist and a probation officer and is widely travelled in different cultures.



Sue Holland, MA is currently an associate lecturer at the London Institute of Psychosynthesis (IOP), where she teaches modules on ‘Embodied Change’. She completed her training at IOP as a psychosynthesis psychotherapist, obtaining UKCP registration in 1996. From 2003 to 2016, Sue served as a senior lecturer at IOP. She has been a teacher and trainer since 1986. Sue qualified as a licensed Somatic Experiencing practitioner in 2009. In August 2008, she co-founded On Purpose Consulting Ltd, a training, coaching and consultancy organisation. Sue enjoys working at the IOP because of the psychospiritual context of the work, the receptivity and depth of the students and the opportunity to explore embodied practice for self-actualisation and Self-realisation on her home ground.



Maggie has been a psychotherapist for individuals and couples for over 25 years. She is a faculty trainer at the Institute of Psychosynthesis and is also influenced by the teachings of Thich Nhat Hahn. At the Institute ofPsychosynthesis she facilitates the Fundamentals workshop, teaches the Act of Will seminars and runs Right Relations groups.



With an MA in Psychosynthesis Psychology Amy Aldington is a UKCP registered Psychosynthesis Psychotherapist, and has a psychotherapy practice near Stroud.
Amy is passionate about supportingconnection between humans, Nature and Spirit, and fostering remembering of ourtruest Nature and why we are here; she understands Psychosynthesis brings aclear context for living a life of intention and meaning, and for healing atboth individual and collective levels.
Amy works at the Institute as a trainer, Right Relations group leader, Fundamentals course Leader, Supervisor, Large Group Experience facilitator, and is currently developing and establishing a Pastoral Care Support offering for students. She also co-leads the Psychosynthesis Cafe with colleague Jim Walsh, a community event which is held monthly. She is deeply committed to assisting students' journeys and unfoldment, trusting that it also serves the Collective and Universal.

Jarlath Benson BA, DipSoc, MSocSc, MMedSc, trained as a social worker, studied psychosynthesis at the Irish Institute of Psychosynthesis and subsequently qualified as a psychoanalytic psychotherapist (Belfast) and later qualified as a group analyst with the Institute of Group Analysis (Dublin). He is a member of the faculty at the Institute, served as a director and on the academic advisory panel. He is responsible for overseeing analytic studies in the training programme and for developing ‘Forum’ as a large group experience. His textbook Working More Creatively with Groups was published in 1987 and he has further published psychological articles on Northern Ireland. He is training therapist for students on the psychoanalytic psychotherapy course at Queen’s University (Belfast), was formally chairman of the Northern Ireland Institute of Human Relations and then became its director from 1996 to 1999. He is on the Advisory Panel for the Irish Institute of Psychosocial Studies and is a member of the Irish Psychoanalytical Association.



Keith Silvester graduated from the Institute in 1990, moving onto faculty as a supervisor and Right Relations leader. At the Institute he teaches Gender, Sexuality and Intersectionality to final year students. Since 2018 he has been President of the European Federation for Psychosynthesis Psychotherapy. He is also a qualified practitioner of the Alexander Technique, with a keen interest in the mind-body relationship. In terms of psychosynthesis, his interest lies principally in existential issues and the effects of social change on our models from a postmodern perspective.



Jim works as part of the faculty and supervision teams here at TheInstitute. Jim is a UKCP registered psychotherapist and supervisor in private practice based in North Birmingham. He trained as a psychotherapist at TheInstitute and has an MA in Psychosynthesis Psychology, as well as a BA (hons) in Business and German, having had a commercial background in non-ferrous metals. Jim has worked part-time as both marketing manager and general manager of The Institute in recent years but has stepped back from the management team to focus on teaching, supervision and private practice. Jim is passionate about the Institute's training and supporting evolving human consciousness. Married with 3 kids, Jim enjoys spending time with his family and teaching himself to play guitar.



Trish is part of the Pastoral Care team and brings a background in theology, teaching, chaplaincy, and psychosynthesis, shaped by many years of listening and accompaniment. She is drawn to Psychosynthesis for the way it gathers the spiritual, psychological, and social strands of life at the thresholds where people often find themselves — moments of change, questioning, and becoming. What makes her heart sing in this work is walking the path alongside others, offering steady presence, careful listening, and helping to tend a sense of hearth and belonging within the wider community — a place where people can pause, be met, deepen into self-understanding, as their own way unfolds. She also holds close Assagioli’s sense that humour can be an intimates mile of the soul — a way of holding the journey lightly, without losing its depth.



Bristena Mantu is a psychosynthesis psychotherapist, published poet, and group facilitator. As a junior trainer on the Fundamentals team at theInstitute of Psychosynthesis, Bristena offers a calm, steady, and inspiring presence to newcomers exploring psychosynthesis. For her, psychosynthesis transcends a mere collection of tools and techniques for psychospiritual growth- it is a wholehearted way of living in alignment with one’s deepest truth, embracing authenticity, resilience, and compassion, especially amid the profound challenges of our times.



Dr Jessica Komeswith a background in Psychology and Neuroscience (MSc & PhD), has worked in several academic and research settings both nationally and internationally. Feeling somewhat removed from the lived human experience, she followed the call to reignite her passion for dance and somatics (such as yoga), combining it with her knowledge of brain-body communication. She began working with people through body-based approaches in both non-clinical and clinical settings, including the NHS, before undertaking training with the Institute ofPsychosynthesis in London in 2018. Here, she also completed her MA, with her thesis titled ‘Disembodiment as an Expression of a Homeless Self’. Now based back in Germany, she works as a psychological treatment developer and psychotherapist at the University Hospital of Bonn, Centre for Neurology,Psychosomatics, and Psychiatry, as well as in private practice. Jessi is a member of the faculty, a study advisor for distance learning programs, and is involved in editing and publishing projects at the Institute.



Edd Higgins works at the Institute of Psychosynthesis facilitating open events and supporting those exploring training pathways. He offers guidance to prospective students as they consider whether the Institute and the path of psychosynthesis feel aligned for them. Alongside his work at the Institute, he predominantly works with children and young people in pastoral settings, bringing a grounded and relational presence to those navigating challenge and transition. What makes his heart sing is witnessing the moment someone feels genuinely seen and understood — when connection softens something and a person realises they are not alone in their experience.



Mary, an IoP graduate and Psychosynthesis Counsellor based on the Isle of Wight, draws on her experience of working in different aspects of media; TV production, content writing, podcasting and digital marketing, to ensure Psychosynthesis, the teachings of Roberto Assagioli, and the work of the Institute reaches as many people as possible. Mary enjoys the creativity of bringing soulfulness and Self to marketing.



Having first come to the IoP as a student, Ann experienced and continues to hold the profound and life-changing nature of psychosynthesis education. This journey drives her commitment to ensuring the Institute of Psychosynthesis continues to be shared, well-supported and rooted in its purpose.
With a professional background in administration management and quality assurance leadership across higher and private education, she feels deeply aligned with this work. Her vision of collaboration, care and meaningful connection weaves together both the transpersonal and the logistical.
Ann advocates for mental health accessibility within communities facing barriers and actively volunteer in this space and is also passionate about children and progressive education.