​Areas of practice

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You may have a clear idea about why you are considering psychotherapy, or you may not be certain of the exact reason, but have a sense that meeting to discuss your situation could be useful. These are some of the areas that clients/patients past and present have approached me for assistance with.

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• Experiences of mental or emotional suffering, and circumstances including, but not limited to; depression, anxiety, feeling sad, shame, grief & bereavement, anger, low confidence, low self-esteem, stress, loneliness, addictions, trauma, feeling overwhelmed, an absence of feeling / disconnection from your inner life. (* Please see note further down this page on diagnostic terms)

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• Meaning and purpose - You may be feeling 'stuck', or wondering about how to live a life that feels more meaningful. This may include seeking new directions to discover and fulfill your potential.​​​

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• Relationships - Working with challenges, and finding greater depth within them.

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• Times of change and transition - This could relate to personal circumstances such as employment, relocation, family, education. Or on a broader level, how to situate oneself within in a rapidly changing world. 

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• Challenging ingrained patterns and beliefs that are limiting your growth. ​​​

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• Art and Creativity - You may be a practicing artist (in the broad sense), maker, work in creative industries, or be an entrepreneur, looking to explore and deepen your work in terms of its meaning, processes, and development. We can work towards a deepening understanding of what you do and why you do it, work through 'blocks', rejuvenate your capacity to be inspired - and to inspire others. Or, you might be at the early stages of entering into creative work, and feel the desire to express something and develop yourself through art.

 

Sometimes people fear that their creative efforts will be regarded as 'nothing but' a psychological issue, or only stemming from early relational experiences. Although it is important to keep an open mind, I take the view that there are many different elements involved in creative processes, and that art is about a much broader and more purposeful human need for expression. 

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• Spirituality / the Transpersonal - Psychotherapy can offer a reflective and creative context for exploring this aspect of your life. For further information visit this page

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• Nature / Ecopsychology / Spiritual Ecology - Recognising that all life is interconnected, and as humans we are a part of a wider web of 'more-than-human' life. Consequently we can expect that if the other species around us are struggling, and the environments in which we all live are in poor condition, this will have an impact upon on us psychologically, as well as physiologically. Further information can be found on this page.

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• Working with men - I mention this specifically, because it is well documented that (generally speaking) men are sometimes reluctant to seek support. There can be very understandable reasons for this, and I am experienced in working with men for whom openly discussing what is going on for them is not familiar, or comfortable ground.

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A note on diagnoses

Language is a powerful thing, and I take great care not to treat a person as a problem, or only a label. Diagnostic terms can be useful in offering a clinical shorthand which says something about what might be going on for you. But they can be very broad brush strokes, and when (for example) someone tells me they have depression, that simply serves as a starting point because the word itself does not describe that person's lived experience of what is being named 'depression'. Part of our work together will likely involve finding new language for your experience, through coming to know yourself in a new way. This kind of 'redescribing' can be usefully applied to many aspects of life. 

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Is anything required from the patient/client?

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It is important that we can enter the work in the 'spirit of enquiry' — a kind of non-judgemental curiosity about whatever makes itself known to us in the session — by valuing your experience in all its forms, and adopting a considerate and reflective attitude. A degree of commitment is necessary from both of us to make the therapy as effective as possible, and it is expected that once appointments have been arranged you will attend them as planned.

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