Retta Bowen

Retta is an experienced integrative child and adolescent psychotherapist and adult counsellor who worked for many years in demanding London services, as well as at The Therapeutic Consultants in North London. She has explored extensively in clown, fooling and improvisation and finds these practices, combined with the gentle power of the breath, indispensable teachers in how to live with greater authenticity, creativity and freedom. Retta believes that what we have repressed, and are afraid of, is often our gold, and that through playfulness and permission we can allow the full range of our feelings; in this way we can discover more of who we are and restore lost vitality. She is always seeking out new ways to support the expression of those parts of the self we struggle with the most and to recognise our power to choose and create a life we love.  She takes pleasure in supporting adults and children alike to connect with their innermost selves and discover their true potential.

Retta worked at the specialist adoption service, Family Futures, providing trauma-informed neuro-physiological support to adopted or fostered children and their families. Prior to that she worked for many years with Islington families impacted by substance misuse where she developed specialism in parenting and family work – developing playful, creative ways to connect and express feelings - and established a programme of support for children and their parents inspired by a Winston Churchill Memorial Trust travelling fellowship to the States.

Alongside this she taught and supervised at Terapia, the London-based child therapy centre, and undertook independent consultancy work, facilitating trainings to organisations across London. She is currently a visiting tutor at Terapia.

In 2017 she left her therapy work to go to clown school in Canada and then followed a path of healing and change, learning from many teachers, practices and traditions, and trained as a breathwork facilitator with Alchemy of Breath.