ABOUT ME
Like many people, my therapeutic journey began with a lot of doubt, scepticism and confusion. It was a scary and difficult step to begin with, but having done so, it continues to be rewarding in ways I could never have imagined. Personal experience, a love of nature and an earlier career as a community gardener, taught me that the challenges, problems and crises of life are in fact the starting points for new opportunities and growth.
In the depths of despair we can find the seeds of a new and unexpected strength. From a place of loving regard and an attitude of active acceptance, genuine creativity and change may begin.
HOW I WORK
It is my belief, that your own ‘will’, that which aims towards health and wellbeing, is the source of all that is healing in psychotherapy.
My approach recognises your individual uniqueness, addresses your issues as your issues, as unique but not separate or detached from the rest of the world.
My aim is to guide you towards your own ability to respond, both to the wounds you have experienced in the past and to the present day problems you face. This is a starting place of optimism – one where the extent of your struggles is fully empathised with and accounted for, but where, in spite of your pain and fear, you strive towards who you want to be in relation to others. To make sense of your experiences, to learn new skills, develop greater courage, to recognise your blind-spots and accept who you are.
To my mind, therapy is a pragmatic investment in your future, one which encourages personal development, and which once started will increase your levels of awareness and the skills necessary to meet and deal graciously with life’s inevitable challenges. Looking for the support of a counsellor is the first step in taking personal responsibility for such an investment.
SPECIALITIES
Despite the uncertainties of a rapidly changing world, the issues we face as individuals remain essentially the same. Relationships remain the core of who we are, representing both our greatest struggles and our greatest achievements.
As my practice has grown I have found myself more and more addressing men’s issues, from both the male and the female perspective. Issues around regulation of anger, anxiety, difficulties showing affection and finding intimacy in relationships, concerns around sex and sexuality and difficulties tuning into oneself emotionally. Our struggles with emotional intimacy can affect us at many levels and at different times in our lives and a psychosynthesis approach aims at appropriately regulating and integrating our emotions into daily life.
Internet Addiction
Many of these traditional relationship difficulties are also manifesting online, with online interactions increasingly prevalent in our daily lives. This is especially the case since the lockdown measures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, with dependency and addiction to internet based activities being a growing phenomenon, taking on many forms.
I help people to explore their relationship to the internet, gaining a clearer understanding of the meaning behind their compulsive behaviour, and taking steps towards developing a greater sense of control over these increasingly important technologies.
To paraphrase Assagioli: We feel controlled by those things with which our self becomes identified. With empathy and understanding, we can learn to control those things from which we disidentify ourselves.
ROBERTO ASSAGIOLI
The founder of Psychosynthess gives this description which I endeavor to adopt and develop in my day to day life and work.
"Psychosynthesis is essentially an attitude... the attitude of the teacher or the healer or therapist, to life in general, a rapport or interplay with patient or pupil. And it is, in a general sense, the attitude that is the bringing together in an organic whole, diverse and sometimes conflicting elements. But in an organic whole in which each element preserves its own individuality and function."
And from this flows effortlessly another quote which I adore, that in life:
"There is no certainty; there is only adventure."
PSYCHOSYNTHESIS?
Like many psychotherapeutic modalities, Psychosynthesis originated in the early years of the twentieth century. Originally influenced by psychoanalysis it went on to incorporate a broader recognition of what it means to be human, a step beyond our pathologies into the potential of what is trying to emerge in our present experience.
Psychosynthesis places relationship at the core of everything we do. It aims to reveal where we hold ourselves back, to explore our potential and engage our will in making the changes we so often desire. As a transpersonal therapy it is known to be helpful if you are struggling with low self-esteem, anxiety, depression, trauma, PTSD and workplace or relationship issues.