Psychotherapy

Why Psychotherapy?

The word psychotherapy derives from the Greek and means healing the soul. Psychotherapy is a creative process which involves talking freely about thoughts, feelings and relationships and Jungian therapy in particular values the relationship with the unconscious as a resource for healing. Through strengthening this relationship, new possibilities emerge.

People come to therapy for many reasons and there is no right reason. You might be curious about yourself, or looking for a deeper connection with yourself and more engagement with life. Therapy can help you to make sense of life and can provide new insights and perspectives.

Often people come to therapy because they are suffering in some way. It may be that an experience of depression or anxiety, loss or grief, trauma or the end of a relationship has acted as a catalyst. Sometimes people feel lost and confused about life, overtaken by mysterious moods, or feel that things are just not right. Even though these experiences can be distressing and painful, in Jungian psychotherapy they are seen as arising from inner conflicts, which when understood can be transformed, helping you to transition through a difficult time. In this the whole person is considered — body, mind and spirit. You and your therapist work towards finding understanding and meaning in what is happening.

How Does Psychotherapy Work?

Psychotherapy is a conversation that helps you to reflect on your life and yourself. I will listen closely to how you think about your problems and how they affect you and so help you to become more conscious of the feelings, assumptions and patterns that might be ordering your life. 

As your therapist I am not involved in your life in the way that other people are, so the therapy relationship is unique. By providing a safe, compassionate and confidential space, therapy can give you time and space to reflect on your life with someone who can be more objective. This provides insight to help you to explore life from a different perspective and can lead to increased sense of personal choice and a richer connection with yourself and others.

I believe the quality of the relationship is really central to the work. Taking the first step can be daunting, and one of the most important things is for you to feel comfortable and you feel you can work collaboratively with me. This can sometimes take a while to establish so I usually suggest we meet for around 4-6 sessions so you can see whether you feel working together feels like the right thing for you. 

Psychotherapy isn’t always a quick or easy process and requires time, patience and commitment from both the therapist and client, but ultimately it can be a catalyst for change and transformation.

What Can I Expect?

All therapy is individually tailored to you. I don’t provide answers, rather a place where we can explore the questions together. Through building a trusting relationship, I can provide a space where anything can be talked about openly. At a minimum we would meet weekly, but Jungian analysis — which aims at a deeper examination of your inner self — often works best with more frequent sessions to allow for a deeper process of exploration; with that in mind I can also be available two or three times per week, depending your requirements. Sessions are for 50 minutes and sessions are face-to-face or online, via Skype or Zoom.

My main approach to therapy is based on the work of Carl Gustav Jung. By studying how his own life experiences affected and shaped him, Jung developed techniques which allowed him to help others gain a better understanding of their own situations. A particular feature of the Jungian approach is the value placed on the symbols and images that emerge through dreams, the imagination, fantasies and everyday life. Although these symbols connect us at a deeper, collective level, everyone has their own personal myth and the purpose of Jungian therapy is to help connect with your own, often hidden, potential. This potential may never have been realised or it may have been blocked and hidden by challenges, trauma or illness. Jungian analysis and psychotherapy can free up this potential.

I also incorporate techniques from Sensorimotor Psychotherapy. This is a more body-orientated approach that is particularly helpful with trauma and works well with a Jungian approach.

In line with good professional practice, I regularly have supervision with a more experienced therapist. This helps me to uphold high professional standards and protects both me as a therapist and my clients.