WORKING TOGETHER

Many starting points

It is common for us to think of depression and anxiety as common starting points in therapy, but contributing to these may be a range of things like past traumas, grief, loss, separation, a struggle to manage intense emotions, or tensions and misalignments between internal parts of self.  Sometimes things are going fairly well externally, yet we feel something fundamental is missing inside - something we maybe can't easily describe.  In our dialogue around what you are thinking and feeling, we have the opportunity to unearth some of the underlying concerns and patterns and understand them better – and then different choices become possible.

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Integrative style

I take an 'integrative' approach, meaning I am trained in and combine a variety of psychotherapeutic approaches to best help my clients, according to their needs.  I remain rooted in a humanistic stance which means I ensure I am led by you and what happens in our relationship, which I feel is key to our work together.  However, I may make suggestions to use, for example, some tools to work with specific issues related to your thought processing, or it may be that looking at your early experiences could shine a light on your present-day relationship or behaviour patterns and we would naturally be able to work in that area if required.  At each point we will discuss how you feel about the work and your preferences in how we work together as research has shown this makes for more successful outcomes.

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Areas of focus

Fundamentally, all are welcome!  I care deeply about my clients finding me open to whatever they are going through and I believe that my extensive travel and life experience across cultural, religious, gender, sexual and other boundaries helps me to be open, inclusive and curious about the full spectrum of human experience.  I want to be able to meet you where you are and for you to feel heard, and confident that I am able to track with you in a supportive way through your internal world.

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Creativity  I particularly love to work with those who enjoy creative expression.  Whether this involves reviewing your creative process and output as part of our work, or just helping you to have another reflective space to clarify and understand what is emerging for you.  It could simply be exploring photographs, journal thoughts or using other creative tools to express inner experiences that words fail to capture.​

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Life transitions  Change manifests for us all as we transition from one life stage to another, or face the unexpected.  I feel that attending to the experience of change can be some of the most rewarding inner work that life presents, if we have the courage and strength to face it. I also work with people who have had to make high-cost change in their lives – like family estrangement, leaving abusive relationships or high-control groups – assisting them in the process of gently rebuilding their self-identity by sifting through their experiences and reclaiming parts that are valuable to them while gradually healing/releasing the more damaging experiences. 

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I look forward to meeting you in whatever conversation you wish to have.