My Approach

People enter therapy for many different reasons: some might be unsettled by major shifts in their current life situation (like the loss of a partner or relative), others will arrive who are stuck in trying to resolve specific problems from the past (like abuse, bullying, family problems), and yet others will come with a generalised sense of anxiety, dissatisfaction, or perhaps even despair which they view as causeless and are at a loss to explain. Fundamentally, my view is that all these varied and troublesome issues and presenting problems also represent doorways for self understanding and development.

My way of working involves dialogue, focussing in upon your feelings, thoughts and concerns. Dialogue is the starting point for a way of experiencing yourself, aiming at psychological movement and change. Therapy at times might also provide space for quiet reflection to absorb or weigh up a problem. Your issues will be explored in real depth. How long this takes depends on you as an individual person, according to what you require: some clients I see for short periods of time (for what I would view to be counselling) and some for longer periods of time (for psychotherapy). Sessions are of 50 minutes duration and usually once weekly, although by agreement and according to need some clients prefer twice weekly.

In my view therapy is not primarily about technique, there is no technique that will get you instantly ‘cured’ of all your problems. Therapy works because it provides the opportunity to understand and investigate yourself, and your relations with others, through the freedom created by a safe and professionally boundaried therapeutic relationship.