Space to Reflect
Counselling and psychotherapy are concerned with wholeness, creativity and growth. In today's world of deadlines, multitasking and competing pressures these qualities can be more precious and elusive than ever. Along with unprecedented social and economic mobility come new stresses: longer working hours, shifting roles within the family, and increasing pressure to define ourselves by what we own and earn. At times like this it can be easy to feel anxious, lonely, confused or deeply dissatisfied. Psychotherapy provides a space in which your difficulties, wants and aspirations will be explored in a supportive yet challenging and confidential way.
Bridging the Gaps
My approach to psychotherapy is based on the belief that in order to restore clarity and inner freedom it is important to explore our current circumstances (and the concrete steps we could take in order to improve them) while also considering the inner, often unconscious feelings, thoughts and fantasies that may have led to our predicament in the first place. I also believe that while understanding the past can be a powerful antidote to its repetition, an important vehicle of change rests in the development of a respectful therapeutic relationship that is able to do justice to the uniqueness of every human being. As such I emphasise the importance of integrating ideas about the family, the self and society with the specific problems a person might face.
Some simple facts
Almost anyone can benefit from counselling. You do not need to be depressed or suffer from anxiety attacks in order to enter into a therapeutic relationship. People seek counselling and psychotherapy for a variety of reasons. You might be interested in personal development. You might be going through a life crisis. Or you might want to explore and clarify specific problems or feelings. Above all you are likely to be someone who values inner growth, self-reflection and constructive challenges.
What counselling is not
Counselling is not a miracle cure or something that is done to you. It doesn't involve someone telling you how you really feel on the basis of some abstract theory. Nor is it about receiving ready-made guidance or advice. In other words therapy isn't about handing over your sense of who you are to an expert who knows better. Rather, it is the joint fashioning of non-judgmental relationship that will help you to identify and reassess those problematic feelings and behaviours that may otherwise continue to undermine your sense of fulfilment and wellbeing.
Counselling could help you to:
Gain a fresh perspective on a problem and enable you to become clearer about your aims
Restore and enhance performance in work and study
Improve confidence and self-esteem
Deal with feelings of emptiness, not knowing who you are, or how to communicate your needs
Improve the quality of your relationships and increase communication skills
Identify and let go of self-defeating patterns or habits
Manage a life crisis or transition such as change of career, relocation, parenthood, unemployment, divorce or bereavement
Alleviate stress, depression and anxiety
Relieve psychosomatic and stress related symptoms such as backache, irritable bowel syndrome, migraine, poor concentration and insomnia
Develop and enhance your creativity
Counselling can help in many other ways. If your concern is not listed here please feel free to make an initial appointment so that we can discuss whether counselling will be appropriate for you.
