Further Information:  Rita Leaman trained originally as a nursery nurse, working with children in hospitals, homes and in playgroups. Later, she spent ten years in management with a major supermarket chain. She moved to Yorkshire from Buckinghamshire in 1994. In York she worked on an acute psychiatric ward for five years. Reflecting on this experience led her to explore the human givens approach.

In 2002, she opened the UK's first Human Givens centre in York, where she is principal practitioner and in 2003 was elected a Fellow to the HGI, in recognition of this. In 2004 and 2005, as well as her work at the York Centre, Rita ran a successful weekly clinic for an occupational health department of Manchester City Council. She has also travelled extensively in Australia, where she introduced the human givens approach in 2004 and 2005 in presentations to health professionals.

In her spare time she is a part-time sensory evaluator for Nestle. (Chocolate taster!) and is an independent member on the City of York Standards Committee.