About
About Me
I am passionate about my work and find great fulfillment in supporting people to remove their obstacles to growth and live authentic, fulfilling and wholesome lives, aligned with their values and true to themselves.
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Symptoms and discomfort are often signals that our life is somewhere misaligned, we may have suffered a loss or going through a significant transition leaving us wondering who we are and shaking our sense of self.
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Sometimes unfinished business from the past is triggered and impacts our life today.
My fundamental value is that as humans we have what we need to be whole and content, and that we are guided by our 'physis' is a strong inner force, continuously propelling us towards growth and fulfilment.
We are relational beings, born out of relationship and flourishing when we connect. The therapeutic relationship offers what a good quality human relationship can; to be alongside a person whilst they are healing, grappling with life and finding themselves. To listen, to challenge, to contain, to encourage, to lend hope.
This is what I seek to offer my clients, bringing with me my lived experience and philosophy of life, as well as my robust training and years of practice. Alongside a vibrant practice, I have also been a trainer to counsellors and psychotherapist in a reputable organisation for the last 11 years, training people at high level, and running thematic experiential and taught workshops as well as therapy groups.
Philosophy of Practice
My modality is Humanistic Integrative. The core model of my training is Transactional Analysis.
The premise of Transactional analysis is that our personality is made up of three parts, called Ego States: namely the Parent, the Adult and the Child.
At times we may feel and act like our parents did, and at times we may feel and act like we did as a child, reacting to situations that remind us of the past as we would have reacted as children.
Sometimes we respond to life from the here and now with appropriate reactions, in Adult Ego State.
The goal of therapy is to achieve autonomy, which is comprised by the three qualities of intimacy, spontaneity and awareness;
These qualities help us live the life we were always meant to live and be who we were going to be, which may have been thwarted by our life experiences. In my approach, I integrate TA with other modalities to create a coherent system of therapy for each client, with the therapeutic relationship in the centre.
My approach and values
I believe in a holistic approach to therapy that encompasses the mind, body, and spirit.
My goal is to create a safe and supportive environment where you can explore your inner world and embark on a journey of self-discovery and growth in the direction that is right for you.
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Psychotherapy is about more than symptom relief; it can be a a corrective relational experience that can support a person to remove obstacles to growth and resume their development so that they can live a wholesome and congruent life and become who they are. In understanding and owning our journey, we can heal and chose how the story continues.
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I work in an open and collaborative way making a flexible road-map with the client, whether the goal is to deepen self-understanding or to make desired changes.
​I keep the client in the driver seat of their therapy, promoting autonomy, wellbeing and resilience as integral values. I work creatively involving various forms of art including drawing, sandtray, figures, imagery, clay and other embodied experiences.
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My practice is trauma-informed, and I am strongly invested in Equality, Diversity and Intersectionality.
My Ethos
I see the person as an integrated whole, with affect, cognition, physicality, spirituality and behavior. To that end, therapy is a process that facilitates this integration.
This integration also refers to aspects of the self, the 'false self' and the 'true self', an endeavor to get to know our 'shadow', aspects of our self, what we don't like that we don't like or want to acknowledge, so that we do not project them onto others, causing repeated hurts and relational problems.
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The therapist is not a 'hero' in the client's journey, the client is the 'hero'. The client's innate capacity for self healing and and his creative ability to use what is on offer leads to effective change and is the most common success factor in psychotherapy. The therapist aims to offer the client a relationship that is a 'good fit' for them.
I work collaboratively with the client to formulate the client's informal theory of their difficulties, and the client's theory of the change process.
As a therapist, I sit alongside the client, like a co-passenger in a car, pointing things out, keeping an eye on the road map, providing companionship, helping the client remove their obstacles to growth, until they are able and willing to resume the journey themselves.
I believe strongly in 'physis', the internal driving force that leads people to health and actualisation, and support the client in releasing their innate potential, finding their way back to their authentic self so they can lead a fulfilling and wholesome life.
I adhere to the principles of Trauma-Informed practice, namely: trust, collaboration, safety, empowerment and commitment to diversity as fundamental values at the core of my work.
Qualifications
Post graduate Diploma (PGDiP) in Intersubjective Psychotherapy, Newman University, Birmingham
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Diploma in Integrative Psychotherapy, Northern Guild
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Diploma in Psychotherapeutic Counselling, Northern Guild
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Diploma in Clinical Supervision, Northern Guild
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Certificate in Couples Counselling, The Link Centre
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Certificate in Yoga Teacher Training, 200 hours, Yoga Alliance Professionals (YAP)
"The privilege of a lifetime is to become who you truly are."
C.G. Jung