Therapeutic Modalities

Person-Centred Therapy ultimately sees human beings as having an innate tendency to develop towards their full potential. However, this ability can become blocked or distorted by certain life experiences, particularly those experiences which affect our sense of value.  Therapists work to understand an individual's experience from their perspective by allowing the client to reconnect with their inner values & sense of self-worth, thus enabling them to find their own way to move forward & progress.

Psychodynamic Therapy works with unconscious processes & takes the approach that our past impacts our present & may determine how we react in certain situations & relationships. It's particularly helpful for those who feel their difficulties have affected them over a long period of time & are noticing repeated patterns of behaviour & ways of relating, which they want to change. The impressions significant others make on us in childhood & our developmental years play a major role in how we relate to ourselves, others & the world,  so, in my sessions, we often start there.

CBT works with conscious processes & focuses on thoughts & behaviours in the here & now. When you feel anxious, you may often have accompanying negative thoughts which, over time, may develop into quite fixed 'faulty thinking styles' or 'thinking errors'. CBT is the most researched & widely used clinical approach for a variety of mental health problems.

Existential Therapy places emphasis on the human condition as a whole & is interested in how human beings live & make sense of their lives given the limitations of what it is to be human. Emotional & psychological difficulties are viewed as inner conflict caused by an individual's confrontation with the givens of existence. One of the principal existential questions & one which is addressed in therapy is "How can I understand & make something meaningful of my life, knowing that ultimately I cannot control the world around me, & in the awareness that time is always ticking away?"

Fundamentally, Creative Counselling combines core talking therapy approaches such as CBT & Person-Centred with creative interventions. For example, working with symbols, drawing, clay, sand trays, therapy cards & more to give expression, movement, a voice, a shape, a symbol, a metaphor & colour to a client's experience - bringing it to life in a way that often words alone can't do. 

Walking therapy has the advantages of both walking outdoors & counselling. It can be calming, soothing & liberating; people can often feel better immediately because of it.  We meet outside my office & head to Victoria Park or the Olympic Park. Note, x2 in-person/Zoom sessions are a pre-requisite to Walk & Talk Therapy to allow us to see if it's a suitable approach for you.