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Running A Business - Counselling Practice
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Jenny Quine achieved a lifelong dream when she opened up her counselling practice in France. Clay Iles finds out more.
Jenny Quine needs no prompting to evoke scenes of her childhood. So vivid are her early memories of France that she always longed to live there. A psychotherapist, at 63 she has finally settled in Collonges-la-Rouge in the south west, where she runs The Alive Centre.
Jenny started her practice in Surrey 30 years ago. Counselling was in its infancy then and she began with a few individual clients. These developed into evening groups and workshops. The lure of France, however, nagged away. She began to commute and ran regular workshops in Collonges-la-Rouge, where she had visited as a child. Groups of people from England made regular trips to her in this little gem of a village where they explored the benefits of meditation and self-development.
‘My love of France came from my father,’ Jenny explains. ‘A confirmed Francophile, going there always brought out the best in him. He died in France, when he’d gone over to celebrate the 6th June Normandy landings.
‘This area where I live, near Brive, affected me most. I remember coming here with mum and dad - an intense déjà vu experience. I felt I’d actually lived in this town.’
The serious prospect of settling in Collonges-la-Rouge for good arose when her 89 year old mother was dying.
‘She asked me what I wanted to do with my inheritance,’ Jenny says. ‘I didn’t hesitate. My dream had never left me. “Buy my own property in France,” I answered. “I’d love to set up The Alive Centre there.”
Within a few days Jenny’s daughter and business partner, Kate, spotted a property for sale near where she ran her workshops. It had the same spellbinding view over Collonges-la-Rouge. Jenny’s mother died a week later and Jenny bought her new home, Couzedoux, a picturesque manor with a huge barn, a gîte with two terraces and a floodlit swimming pool.
Spiritual Element
‘When I moved in,’ Jenny says. ‘I kept repeating, “I’ve got here… At last I’ve got here …” It’s such a special place for me. There’s a strong spiritual element. It’s mystical. The sunrises, sunsets, moon and stars take my breath away. I love the stillness, the richness that comes from the red earth, the buildings and the medieval villages nearby. I feel I’ve stepped back in time. It’s perfect for the work I do. Kate and I are always available for individual consultations and we run six weekly workshops a year. Not that everybody here comes for counselling and advice. Outside those six weeks, people stay in our gîte or barn just for a holiday.’
Psychotherapy and counselling are not yet as popular in France as in England. ‘French people are really quite intellectual. They don’t turn to others with their problems as we do in England,’ Jenny says. ‘The British have followed trends in America. In France there’s still rather a stigma. They’re so proud and don’t open themselves as much. There’s the attitude that if you need to see a therapist you must be psychologically damaged. That is now slowly changing but most of my clients come from England.’
Jenny strongly believes that people who help others with their problems should also receive some form of counselling themselves. ‘It’s irresponsible if you don’t.’ She regularly visits her own counsellor in Brive. ‘You have such influence over other people. Many of them depend on you. Seeing another counsellor helps keep everything in perspective.’
Kate has also played a crucial role. At 30 years old and a fitness and dance instructor as well as a qualified psychotherapist, she ensures the focus on meditation and self development doesn’t lapse solely into the sedentary. Many of the courses feature an hour’s light physical warm up before the day’s work ‘Body and mind sums up Kate’, Jenny says. ‘Okay, she’s my daughter, but she inspires people and has many talents. Kate is slim, with so much energy and a fantastic dancer. She’s the perfect foil to my more measured approach.’........
