MY APPROACH
My orientation as a counsellor and psychotherapist is integrative, which means that I have been trained to create my own personal approach by drawing on a number of other schools of therapy. In particular I am influenced by psychodynamic, relational, humanistic and body psychotherapy.
What this means is that I don’t have a single off-the-shelf approach that I apply to every person I work with. Instead we will work together to identify the areas you want to explore and how best to approach them. Underpinning all the work is the working relationship we establish together.
You may have a specific issue that you wish to explore such as a relationship, stress, anxiety, panic attacks, your work life, or a recent event or trauma that has impacted you. In that case it might be appropriate for us to work together for a fairly short period of time in order to focus on this. Such work might typically fall under the heading of ‘counselling’.
On the other hand there may be something more deeply-rooted that is bothering you, or you may have feel that you are ready for a deeper exploration. In that case we might embark on a longer journey that would traditionally fall under the heading of ‘psychotherapy’. Here we might explore your sense of your self, and your relationship to others and to your wider environment.
The work may involve looking at your past and identifying patterns of behaviour that are still being played out in the present. Or it might involve working very much in the moment. It will involve talking, but it might also involve you using bodily awareness to access and process feelings that are buried beneath the surface. Either way it is a journey that we embark upon together.
I don’t offer advice. Rather I offer a space where we can explore what is going on in your life and where you can get different perspectives so that you can start to make the changes that you want. I offer an opportunity for you to be heard and understood, especially when discussing experiences that you might find it hard to explore elsewhere. On occasion I may challenge you, but I will always seek to be supportive.
