About therapy
People come to counselling for a very diverse range of reasons and everyone's experience of counselling differs because of this. Some people come to talk with specific issues in mind such as depression, relationship issues, anxiety, bereavement etc. Others come with no sense of what is wrong, they just feel that something isn't right.
The counselling space can offer you a non-judgemental and confidential setting to explore your thoughts and feelings. It can offer you a deeper insight into your relationships and why you behave in the way that you do. It's a space where you can look back at the past and look forward to the future.
Perhaps most importantly it gives you an opportunity to be really listened to without advice giving or interruption. In today's society this is often a rare thing.
My approach
I am an integrative counsellor which essentially means that I do not believe that one way of working helps all people.
Part of my approach focuses on the repetitive patterns that may be operating on an unconscious level. Patterns that we recreate from the past, but that perhaps are no longer helpful now. It can take time and patience not only to notice these patterns, but to change them. Through our relationship I hope to bring these patterns into awareness, which I believe can be healing and promote change.
I also keep in mind the existential givens in life - Death, Freedom, Meaninglessness and Isolation. The facets of existence that affect us all in some way or another.
As well as the above I do offer some Mindfulness based techniques which can be especially helpful with anxiety, panic and painful past memories/trauma.