My approach
A space for what is going on for you right now
Whatever brings you here, I welcome you.
People seek therapy for various reasons at different points in their life. It can be specific events, issues in our relationships to others or ourselves, it can be dealing with the unexpected and the unknown.
You do not need to go through these times on your own.
I work with your needs in mind - therapy is open-ended, which means that you choose whether you would like to work together for a few sessions or longer-term.
We work on your goals together to understand what has happened and how you can navigate your way through it drawing on your own resources.
Your process, collaboratively
Process in therapy means how you relate to and express your feelings, thoughts and experiences. I work from a humanistic model of therapy called person-centred approach.
This means I see you as the expert on yourself. You have your own wishes, goals, preferences, desires and our work will be grounded in who you are as a person and how you would like to see change in your life.
My role is to offer a safe and professional relationship in which you feel heard and accepted for who you are. In a space that is founded in empathic understanding, you are well supported in continuing your healing and growth process.
I have worked with people who have come to therapy to explore their experiences of sexuality, depression, anxiety, bereavement, disability, stress, eating disorders, diversity, homelessness, substance and alcohol misuse, trauma, suicidality, intersectionality, family and relationship difficulties, self-esteem, managing anger, neurodiversity, self-harm, cultural and identity issues.
Our work will be highly individual. It will be based on the themes you want to bring in therapy, your pace of building trust in session, forming a connection and exploring your inner world.
Relational, experiential and trauma-informed aspects of work
“The curious paradox is that when I accept myself just as I am, then I can change”
- Carl Rogers
Working relationally is key to my approach.
This means the therapeutic relationship is a mirror ground for exploration – it invites us to notice, look into and change patterns of how we relate to others and ourselves. Relational work often happens in the present and at its core are your individual experiences coming from your specific cultural and social context.
The person-centred approach in relational work asks what it feels like to show empathy and acceptance to the parts of us which make us who we are. If we struggle to do so, it then wonders what is it that stands in our way.
I work with awareness of the power dynamics which operate within the therapeutic relationship and what that means to you. Relational work offers opportunity to build new skills including effective communication, choosing and maintaining boundaries and connecting to feelings of compassion for yourself and others.
Experiential work is a deeper exploration of your emotions processing in the present. It involves building awareness of where you may experience or store emotion in your body and discovering ways to connect to yourself.
A lot of this involves considering what is going on for you right now and how you feel about it - is your tendency to judge yourself or to seek respite and escape from your feelings? How would you like to approach your emotions and experiences instead?
I am particularly interested in continuing my work with trauma and have done some continuous professional development training in trauma-informed counselling. Engaging with trauma in the therapeutic space looks like establishing safety and grounding in yourself to support you in regulating some of the responses you may experience as a result of what has happened to you.
I hold an awareness that trauma can operate within intersectionality and in my work I am open to hearing and understanding how things are for you as you navigate your experiences.