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How I work
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My counselling philosophy is that there is no single approach to therapy that can treat all issues. With this in mind, I chose a counselling training that included multiple psychological theories such as CBT, existentialism, person-centred counselling, humanistic therapies, solution-focused counselling and more. I am continuously adding to this list of approaches as I take on new trainings each year - so if there is a certain way of working that you prefer, or not, then please do let me know. My approach as a psychotherapeutic counsellor is based on a combination of my various therapeutic trainings, my individual personality and my personal life experience, including the enormously positive experiences that I have had in my own therapy. |
My work with Dr Irvin D. Yalom - whom you may already know of as the infamous author of A Matter of Death and Life: Love Loss and What Matters in the End and Love's Executioner - has more recently encouraged me to bring an existential focus to my work and to my approach in supporting my clients.
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My responsibility as your therapist is to use these approaches to inform the way that I guide you through our work together.
This training has taught me the types of questions to ask to encourage useful reflections or to allow you to reframe past events and adjust perspective. Over my years in counselling practice, I have honed a way of working that creates a strong rapport with my clients and forms a secure environment within our sessions where you can examine the self and how you have come to be who you are today. My questions allow you to discover things about yourself and the way that you approach life that you may not have considered before. If we want something about our lives to change, first we must really see it for what it is. Sometimes that is uncomfortable, but you don't have to do it alone. My view is that emotional pain is a message from our brain telling us that something is wrong.
Pain is a fundamental signal from our body telling us that something is hurting us and that we need to do something about it. If we don't pay attention to this signal, then we risk allowing the pain to worsen. Looking analytically and philosophically at this pain with my clients is what I do every day. Your pain may feel overwhelming, complex or scary - perhaps it's been there as long as you can remember- or maybe it is something that you have avoided looking at for fear of making it worse. But life is short, and living in fear is no life at all. If you can relate to this, perhaps now is the time to make a change. |
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