Counselling & Psychotherapy

Counselling provides a safe, 100% confidential space to gently explore ourselves, whatever is bothering us and what might lie beneath that. We can’t change what we can’t see.

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We, humans, are complex creatures and each one of us is unique: Sadly there is no manual, we just have to work ourselves out as we go along. An independent, non-judgmental and empathic, compassionate other can act as a witness as well as hold creative space for exploration. 

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My basic approach and way of being is person-centred, whilst incorporating elements from the psychodynamic approach and trauma-informed approach.

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Psychodynamic counselling offers an awareness of potential links between past and present, conscious and unconscious, and of how patterns of development can affect us at different stages.  

 

The trauma-informed practice offers appropriate pacing and techniques to mitigate some of the challenging physical as well as psychological effects of difficult past experiences in a way that makes it more manageable. 

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I’ve been working with people for many decades and the phrase I’ve used in my classes is, ‘We are all walking wounded.’ We all have our issues, our hurt, our difficulties.

 

This matters because whilst we might be functioning well on the outside; how we feel on the inside, (consciously and unconsciously,) affects many aspects of our lives, including how our bodies function. It also seeps out into our relationships through our attitudes, beliefs about ourselves, our behaviour and therefore it also affects how others see us and respond to us. 

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You might just need the space for someone to be there 100% for you, where you know you will not be judged no matter what you bring or say. Or you might want to explore an aspect of yourself, your behaviour, your life or your relationships.

 

Talking helps.

 

Even when the presenting issue is very clear, it can be surprising what can be feeding into it that perhaps you weren’t even aware of. As I’ve been saying in my courses for decades: Feel, Reveal, Heal: when we give ourselves the space to feel deeply into what’s going on, we gain insight into what all is playing into that. When we have understanding, we have choices, we are more empowered, and that can lead to resolution and integration. We can embrace new aspects of ourselves we might not even have been aware of.

 

Understanding leads to a greater acceptance of ourselves, and hopefully eventually to greater compassion and appreciation of ourselves and the journey we have been on. As each journey is different you might just need a few sessions of counselling or you might want to make it an important part of your life for a time.