How do I approach therapy?

I practice a Person-Centred Approach (PCA) to therapy which is based on the belief that individuals want to achieve their full potential, to live life as their authentic self, but various life challenges and struggles can get in the way of this.

When we absorb the harm, neglect, criticism or disapproval of others and experience difficult life events, whether in the past or present, this can greatly impact how we view ourselves and the world around us.

If we view ourselves negatively, as ‘broken’ in some way, our quality of life can be significantly affected and to fulfil our true potential can feel impossible. We can then be left struggling with poor mental health and emotional wellbeing.

As a Person-Centred therapist, my role is to create the conditions for the work of processing and understanding adversity to take place, conditions such as:

• approaching clients as my authentic self, to be open and transparent with them, known as congruence or genuineness;
• to accept and respect, value and support clients without judgement, regardless of who they are or how they present, also known as unconditional positive regard; and,
• to connect and attune with a client to understand their feelings and experience, to communicate empathy.

I focus on how an individual may experience themselves in the here-and-now and how this self-perception may help or hinder daily life. It may also be beneficial to explore the legacy of the past, how life experiences and history can shape current perceptions, patterns of thinking and behaviour and a way of being in the world.

I support clients to explore where they are as a person, not where society or well-meaning loved ones says they should be, and then to develop an understanding of where they want to be, and what they want and need to achieve this. With greater clarity, self-acceptance and confidence, action can then be taken, but only at a pace that feels right for the client.

I use my skills and training to encourage personal healing and growth, with skills including actively listening, reflection, open questions, checking in and building rapport. Rather than making my own assumptions, I will work alongside you to understand how you see and interpret your world, which can feel very validating.

I encourage curiosity around the use of verbal language, not just in terms of how we communicate with others but also the dialogue we can use towards ourselves and how impactful this can be in framing our world view, either negatively or positively.

I also work with clients to explore their holistic experience, that to become more aware of the physical sensations when feeling stress or distress can help to increase emotional language so that they can communicate to others what they might need to calm and soothe their nervous system.

I know that it can take time to develop trust, to feel secure enough make difficult disclosures. I approach clients with acceptance, patience and compassion to create a therapy space that feels safe and comfortable enough to be vulnerable.

By working with clients as individuals a PCA doesn’t offer a one-size-fits-all approach and, as such, therapy will be experienced differently by different clients in terms of the number of sessions and desired outcomes.