Cowen Hayden

Chris Cowen

After qualifying as a Chartered Accountant, I followed a management career in the Private Sector; eventually moving to Devon to become Head of Finance in a quoted company. I later moved into Business Consultancy, where I worked with a wide range of organisations in both the Public and Private sectors. During this time I became increasingly interested in the human behavioural side of organisations.

This prompted me to train at the Iron Mill Institute in Exeter, where I gained an Advanced Diploma in Integrative Counselling, enabling me to practice as a qualified Counsellor.

Work has always played an important part in my life. It has enabled me to support myself and my family. It has introduced me to many hundreds of people, some of whom have gone on to become close and longstanding friends. It has also been important in defining who I am as a person, in the eyes of both myself and others.

The workplace can be a very rewarding and fulfilling place and should be, since many of us will spend much of our waking life in it. Yet my experience has been that it can be unhealthy, sometimes even destructive. Helping to bring about sustainable positive change is now a major motivation in my working life.