My aim, as a Psychotherapist, is to offer you a unique environment where you can freely explore what’s going on for you. An opportunity, through exploration, to try and understand why you might be feeling the way you do. To increase your understanding of yourself through discussion, normalisation and reflection. In short, I want to help you to feel clearer, more confident and more able to discover a new way of being that feels right to you.
Many clients that come to me want me to take away the ‘chaos’ that’s going on inside their head, they want clarity of thought, less overwhelming emotions. By offering space and time away from the demands of life, my clients have the opportunity to ‘catch up’, to gain clarity of thought, to connect with feelings in a safe way, to grieve losses and to celebrate successes. This process of pausing and processing, is so important in order for life to continue in a different way. As a result, I find my clients rediscovering themselves, regaining confidence and creating a more balanced life.
My interest in this field began nearly 30 years ago when I worked as an Advocate for survivors of rape and sexual abuse. As I began to understand the enormous impact such a trauma could have on an individual, I also began to realise the importance of how they were treated following their disclosure, and the huge influence that had on the person's capacity to heal.
All survivors needed was to be listened to, without judgement, to be able to make choices for themselves, to be believed, to have their thoughts and feelings validated but this seemed to be very difficult to find. As Cheryl Richardson once said, "people start to heal the moment they feel heard" and this is exactly what I experienced.
But how often do we share our feelings with well-intentioned friends and family, only to be met with their feelings and advice on the matter, when all we really want is to be able to work things out for ourselves?
I believe that by offering to truly listen to a client, without judgement, they can start to explore their world and begin to gain a better understanding of that world and their part in it. This understanding can then lead to any number of possibilities depending on what that client feels is right for them.
“When we are listened to, it creates us, makes us unfold, and expand. Ideas actually begin to grow within us and come to life.”
— Brenda Ueland
“At the center of your being you have the answer. You know who you are and you know what you want.”
— Lao Tzu
In order to help ourselves it is important that we find the right person to speak to. Verbalising our feelings can leave us feeling vulnerable and we need to know that this vulnerability will be respected and responded to in a caring and sensitive way.
My humanistic approach puts you, the client, at the centre of the counselling process. I fully believe that you are the one who knows what is right for you, I am simply providing an empathic and non-judgemental environment within which to discover it.