Counselling
After a number of decades working within many challenging environments from conflict to stressful and toxic corporate situations, all the while doing my best to manage my own mental health issues from a young age, I experienced a significant burnout in late 2000’s. This took me almost 3 years to ‘recover’ from, although it still remains in my awareness to this day, and became the catalyst for a desire to understand what happened at a neuroscientific level and how it might be predicted or even avoided, prompting a number of years of researching other people’s experiences, learning about brain functioning and systems, and ultimately providing global award winning (2021) educational workshops to large well known corporate organisations worldwide on practices to build cognitive resilience.
Whilst this was successful, I was not satisfied I was was doing all I could towards reducing the suffering in others, so I embarked on a five-year journey, training in Integrative Psychotherapeutic Counselling & Psychotherapy, so I could not only try and prevent specific burnout suffering through workshops, but also help those who are already suffering from a wider range of mental health issues, as well as those who find themselves needing some help, after a bereavement or due to trauma both from childhood or more recent.
As an integrative therapist, I tailor my approach to your needs.
I do this by drawing upon a number of theoretical models such as Person-Centred Therapy, Gestalt Therapy, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Internal Family Systems (IFS), and Transactional Analysis (TA), all ‘in the moment’ and to support whatever is presenting AT that moment.
I believe that the style of relationship I foster provides an opportunity for a genuine, heartfelt and sincere meeting. This helps us remain aware of our mutual influence on the therapeutic process. I don’t advise. I don’t direct. I aim for a journeying-alongside approach, as you become self-aware.
The first step in therapy is for us to meet for an initial consultation and get to know each other a little.
At that first meeting, I will be asking you lots of questions about the issues you’re struggling with right now and what you’re hoping to address in therapy. I will also be asking you about your childhood experiences and your relationships with and within your family from then until now.
Other important information I need will include any previous therapy you’ve had (how it went, how it ended, whether it was satisfactory, etc.), your work history, relationship history, reasons previous relationships ended and your current relationship if you have one.
The reason I ask these questions is so that when I walk alongside you on your journey through therapy, I can better reflect on where you are coming from and have a hint at why you might have reached this place here and now, which can inform where the work might take us.
I will obviously allow time during the first, maybe also the second, session for you to ask any questions you wish to ask about me, therapy in general and how I see us working together in the future.
Psychotherapy and counselling are usually conducted on an open-ended basis and I usually suggest we review how things are going after six sessions to see if you’re getting what you hoped for from the therapy.
Subsequent sessions differ from the first one in that you come to the session either to continue from where we left off the previous week (I may have extra questions to ask too) or you may have something in particular on your mind that you wish to discuss. It’s important that you lead the session, but I’m not one of those silent, blank screen types of therapists imagined as sitting behind you just listening, but neither do I take control of the session by asking leading questions or referring to something from the previous week’s session. There are good reasons for this, which I’m happy to discuss should you wish to.
Having undergone years of therapy myself, I have journeyed through my own peaks, troughs and potholes, which, along with years of professional training, enables me to accompany you on your journey, because I have recognised that knowing how I experienced my landscape helps me to be your trusted guide as you travel across yours.