"How incredible would it be to share with somebody who supports you and sees your highest potential and reminds you of it in that moment?
A present being can often help us to face difficult feelings with more mindfulness than we can alone. What a gift, to progressively work out ticks and misconceptions that we have adopted strategically in order to survive, but which build up those very barriers that alienate us from what we truly desire! Sharing even one instant in true relationship with a genuinely compassionate being can reconfigure how we respond in analogous cases (or overall) for the rest of our lives (and perhaps beyond)! Then, we learn how to be there for ourselves and others in that same nurturing way."
Most people experience difficulties or distress at some point in their life. Psychotherapy is a collaborative process, seen to explore concerns, identify feelings and thoughts and reflect both how you see yourself and how you relate to others, in a safe, supportive and non-judgmental space.
You can bring whatever is on your mind to the session - anxieties, dreams, fantasies, fears, feelings, hopes, memories, sensations and thoughts.
Like all human beings, my clients are multi-faceted and bring a broad range of issues to me. They bring their stories – stories that encompass those around them in their present lives and those who have gone before. Some clients feel anxious and broken - others are deeply bereaved. Many are dealing with a life transition, a relationship dilemma or problems at work. Some are going through a spiritual crisis.
I am an Integrative Psychotherapist, therefore my personal approach integrates several different theories – Psychodynamic, Humanistic, Gestalt, CBT and Transpersonal. However, Attachment Theory and Object Relations concepts and formulations are at the heart of my work. I draw on these, my theoretical knowledge and my therapeutic skills and expertise, to respond to these stories in whatever way is best for each specific client. Maybe what they need is to be listened to and acknowledged? Perhaps they are searching for goals, answers or resolution? Maybe they want to manage and sort out a past trauma or make sense of a recent event? Through the telling of these stories within a trusting, non-judgmental, accepting relationship, clients come to understand themselves and their inner motivations more completely, accept themselves more positively and look to the future with greater clarity.
I believe in the importance of early attachment experiences as creating an internalised working model that serves as a schema or template to close relationships. Our characteristic attachment style will influence the characteristic manner in which we approach the other and construe the world around us.
I also consider that our current relationships and ways of solving problems are often influenced by past events and how we understood them at the time. I am interested in the way we unwittingly repeat in adulthood these patterns we learnt in childhood, no matter that they may no longer be helpful and even that they play a part in maintaining our current problems.
By recognising these patterns and understanding what triggers them, how they are maintained, we are in a better position to understand what our strengths and limitations are and our possibilities and choices. To work out new ways of thinking and acting that can help us lead a more fulfilling life.
I work on the assumption that feeling safe within therapy and working at a pace that feels comfortable for you forms the basis of our work together.
The self-other representations of our internal world constitute the material to be worked on in the therapeutic relationship, where there is opportunity for a new and healing experience, resulting in changes in our experience of our selves in relationship to others and the world.