Relational Depth

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The first and most important thing in counselling is the therapeutic relationship.

The relationship with a counsellor or psychotherapist can be therapeutic in and of itself.

Without it, there is no therapy.

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"In 2002, the American Psychological Association (APA) set up a task force to review all the availabale data on the link between therapeutic outcomes and the therapeutic relationship. The principle finding of the task force was that 'the therapy relationship...makes substantial and consistent contributions to psychotherapy outcome independent of the specific type of treatment' "*

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The relationship with your therapist should be one where you feel met, heard and understood. A unique kind of relationship in which you feel safe and supported in meeting, hearing and understanding yourself.

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Cognitive Behavioural Therapy

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Cognitive (Thinking) and Behavioural (Doing) Therapy can be great for helping us get clear on what we are thinking and doing, and what we are feeling.

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We can find ourselves lost in a miasma of thoughts and feelings and we may not know what to do. How we think about how we feel determines how we act and the quality of our life. Habitual unhelpful thinking habits can cause serious distress.

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Inspired by the principles of Stoic Philosophy, CBT offers practical ways to get clearer about our experience and how we can learn to respond effectively to what life throws at us.

Paired with Mindfullness practices, CBT offers us the tools to develop clarity and aptitude in handling our inner experience and external reality and reduce unnecessary suffering.

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Polyvagal Theory

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Fight/Flight/Freeze or Collapse are all responses to percieved threat. Getting to know our Autonomic Nervous system and learning how to self-regulate is all part of applying Polyvagal Theory developed by Stephen Porges and Deb Dana.

Our nervous systems can become particularly sensitive where we have experienced trauma or stress.

Polyvagal Theory offers practical exercises for safety and connection. The techiques are simple, practical things that anyone can learn to do to help manage their own well being.

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Body Process

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I like to encourage clients to bring their awareness into their own bodies, when they feel safe to do so. This might be as simple as becoming aware of our own breath.

It is common for people to hold physical tension around unresolved emotional material. These physical and emotional feelings might be quite unconscious most of the time. Dropping into our body process can lead to deeply therapeutic work.

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Inner Child Healing and Internal Family Systems

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Through Body Process work we may sometimes uncover feelings that are from when we were much younger.

Inner Child Healing is a way of connecting with these much younger parts of ourselves and seeing what they need. This is a gentle healing process that can be understood as a form of Soul Retrieval.

The rehabilitation and reintegration of less mature parts of ourselves can be transformative, not only by healing the wounded inner child but also reclaiming the gifts of the pure child we once were.

Internal Family Systems offers great maps and protocols to do this work as competently, safely and effectively as we possibly can.

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Gestalt Therapy

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Gestalt Therapy is a phenomenological approach to therapy and understanding the nature of human experience that owes much to Buddhist Psychology. Gestalt is a phenomenological approach, which means we are always curious about whatever is arising in the field of awareness. Whatever is going on for you right now is valid and worthy of our curious attention.

So much of our experience can be habitually disregarded. Gestalt Therapy seeks to make conscious the unconscious by bringing curious attention to "how it is" in the present moment.