What brings you to therapy?

There are many reasons why people seek psychotherapy and counselling such as anxiety and depression, trauma and bereavement, stress and anger, isolation, feeling desperate or numb, illness, sexual difficulties or relationship conflict, job dissatisfaction or loss, and parenting challenges. 

You and I create the therapy process together. It’s the quality of our relationship that will enable you to achieve the changes you desire. Every client's experience of therapy is different. Unexpected issues, experiences and outcomes are likely to emerge. Sometimes you may feel worse before feeling better. 

Usually most people gain a sense of learning and growing, and some of the benefits of therapy for you are likely to be:

• greater self-acceptance of your personality and identity
• meaningful closeness and satisfaction in your relationships
• growing resilience and capacity for meeting challenges - emotionally, physically, mentally, spiritually
• connecting with your sense of purpose in life
• ability to flourish as a parent
• enjoy and grow your career
• re/gaining your sense of fun and ability for relaxation

Psychotherapy

The psychotherapeutic relationship is a unique experience and involves making meaning of how you know yourself within relationships and the world around you. And, we’ll discover what you may have forgotten or don’t yet know. We’re likely to talk about your family and other relationships, in the present and in the past.

Some days you may have something in particular to talk about, and other days you may have no idea of what you want. Whether you’re feeling awful or great, turning up to discover what can emerge each session is what psychotherapy is all about. Psychotherapy is generally long term, from a few months to perhaps years.

The ending of psychotherapy is important to plan for as you are likely to discover as much as you have throughout the process. We’ll talk through what your hopes and fears are, and make sure the timing is right.

Counselling

The challenges of life can be stressful, and our coping mechanisms aren’t always helpful or healthy. Solving problems can be difficult if we get overwhelmed by feeling, struggle with intrusive negative thoughts, or, get caught in troublesome behaviours. In counselling I’ll assist you identify patterns you’d like to change, and discover new understanding and new strategies for living.

Counselling tends to be shorter term, ranging between six to twelve sessions. It’s also possible we may glimpse some underlying reasons for your struggles and you may choose to embark upon psychotherapy to seek more significant change.

Group Psychotherapy recognises humans as fundamentally social beings. Family is our first group where we develop ways of being and identities. This evolves throughout life, embedded in groups of many shapes and sizes, all within a cultural context. Group psychotherapy is a very fruitful (and cost-effective) way of exploring your relationships within groups. The therapy group will reflect the nature of groups in your life, and you'll have the opportunity to strengthen your sense of yourself personally, and feel to more integrated with your community, family and social network.

Group members may bring all sorts of life experiences to process together, often difficult or traumatic. The therapy group becomes a supportive environment, through the sharing of feelings and experiences. You will see yourself through the eyes of others and notice familiar patterns of relating, thinking, and feeling. Your growth and development emerges through exploring and experimenting with new ways of being, in the mutually open space of the group. The group will also be a place for discovering and enabling your creativity and aspirations. 

** Please use the Contact page to enquire **

We all seek to make meaning from the stories of our lives. Every client is unique, so theory and technique sit quietly in the background rather than imposing on your story.

Transactional Analysis gives us a way of understanding personality through our stories, or Life Scripts. These scripts contain decisions made in childhood that are carried forward into adulthood as Script Beliefs. These beliefs influence how we think, feel and behave in relation to other people and to ourselves.

Working relationally invites us to talk about how we relate to each other, how this may echo your other relationships, and what we might do differently.

Narrative Therapy focuses on the stories of people's lives and involves finding ways in which people can change their relationships to whatever problem or difficulty they are facing. A problematic story may dominate and even hide other diverse stories that make your life rich. Bringing these preferred stories forward can reveal better ways of living