JHD is delighted to announce that it has appointed Cheryl Pinner as the first person to hold the post of Ambassador. At an exciting time of significant growth for JHD and the counselling profession, Cheryl is working closely with Carol and the team at JHD to expand and provide services nationally, as well as to strengthen the regional offering which has enabled JHD to succeed thus far.

Cheryl joined the police as a cadet in the Metropolitan Police in 1980 before being posted to Bow Street Police Station in 1982 as a probationer to Yvonne Fletcher, the police woman who was fatally shot at the Libyan Embassy.

Following this she transferred to Cambridgeshire and became a career detective interviewing offenders such as Ian Huntley, the Soham Holly and Jessica girls, and victims such as Professor Stephen Hawking. She has been involved in numerous large scale murder investigations, winning national awards for her Family Liaison work in the London bombings. 

Cheryl has worked locally, nationally and internationally within the world of family liaison, working as far afield as Abu Dhabi. In 2010 She graduated from Lucy Cavendish College of the University of Cambridge after studying grief and bereavement management.

More recently, she has Chaired the Critical Incident Personal support team, supporting the government in assisting with large mass disasters and in 2015 graduated from Sunderland university with a BA Hons degree in Applied investigations. 

Since retiring from full-time employment Cheryl has travelled the world from Zimbabwe to China and now works with victims and witnesses in the world of Family Liaison. She was project lead on the return of human tissue as a national project and through the SARC in Huntingdon as a Crisis worker.

We are thrilled to welcome Cheryl into the JHD team!

Several years ago, Carol Harmston-Dean founded JHD Counselling to offer counselling services to people in Cambridgeshire and its surroundings. The last few years have been successful for the organisation and we have been able to reach out to more people in need of our support – individuals, couples and families, schools, and even some of the Cambridge Colleges. With this, the team has grown and there’s now a whole group of people passionate about mental health and well-being running JHD.

In tandem with this, Carol led the training of the next generation of Counsellors and we have now had several cohorts of trainee Counsellors pass through the JHD Training Centre and become qualified Counsellors. In doing so, when Carol made the decision to move to Lancashire, she had created a model that could work anywhere, and one in Cambridgeshire that would endure.

JHD in Cambridgeshire is thriving and continues to help people over here, but unable to rest on her laurels, Carol has begun the work of establishing a second chapter of JHD in the North-West of England. She continues to work with the team here in Cambridge, and we are wishing her all the success in creating ‘up North’ what she has been able to develop down here.

If you want to know more about JHD in Lancashire you can visit the website we have in development, and you are also welcome to e-mail Carol on info@jhdcounselling.co.uk.

This July, JHD Counselling received a visit from the Independent External Verifier who inspects the courses we offer and how well they are being taught. This report is then submitted to the National Counselling Society with whom our courses are recognised. The report, which you can see in full HERE, has recommended us an External Rating of ‘Outstanding‘ which is the best level that can be awarded to an independent centre such as ours.

Carol Harmston-Dean, Managing Director of JHD commented: “I was most proud to see the comments talking about the strength of the JHD team. Our Tutors are absolutely vital in making the JHD culture what it is – a place where students want to practice and teach with us long after they finish. Thank you to all of you, and thank you to Philip the external verifier for recognising the work my team have put in!”

If you are interested in learning more about any of the courses JHD has on offer, please do check out our course pages:

Introduction to Counselling

Level 2

Level 3 

Level 4

Or alternatively e-mail Carol on info@jhdcounselling.co.uk