Joanne Elsworth

Meet the team

Joanne Elsworth

Dramatherapist & Facilitator

Joanne has a masters degree in Dramatherapy from the University of Derby and a qualification in providing psychological interventions for displaced populations from the Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh. With over 9 years of experience supporting people in the humanitarian, mission and public sector, Joanne brings experience in devising creative interventions to help people to heal.  

As a therapist, Joanne employs a Psychodynamic approach to her work, using the expressive arts and creative models alongside more traditional cognitive debriefing tools and active listening to remain person centred. She has a passion to support people who have been affected by relational challanges, natural and manmade disasters, sexual assault and childhood trauma. 

She worked in the UK with Looked after Children and within University settings before moving into the humanitarian sector. Joanne has spent the past 5 years living and working in South Sudan, Philippines, Thailand and Bangladesh. Her work included supporting the wellbeing of individuals and in providing training and creative sessions for teams and communities. Joanne is also actively involved in a number of Thrive training programmes, including co-developing a peer support training as well as running psychological first aid, family liaison training, and stress and resilience.

Joanne is also able to work with children between the ages of 5 and 13 to include work with childhood fears and trauma, disability, transition issues and Third Culture Kid (TCK) responses. She supports adolescents experiencing attachment issues, and is also able to support parents with advice regarding their children.  

During 2022, Joanne received specific training in couples counseling exploring ways to support couples in their relationships through various mediums.

Joanne is based in rural France, having recently moved there with her husband and two daughters and is enjoying working within the beautiful countryside.