STARTING THE PROCESS
Finding the right therapist is important. Qualifications and experience matter, but so does something less easily defined: whether you feel you can talk openly with someone and whether there is a sense that you might be able to think together.
If you’re considering getting in touch, this is how the process usually begins.
MAKING CONTACT
You’re welcome to contact me by email to arrange an initial conversation. If helpful, we can have a brief call at no charge before arranging a consultation. This can be particularly useful if you’re new to therapy, feeling uncertain about taking the first step, or simply have some practical questions about how I work.
If it feels appropriate to explore things further, we can then arrange an initial consultation.
CONSULTATION
The initial consultation lasts approximately one hour and gives us an opportunity to begin thinking together about what has brought you to therapy, what you may be looking for, and whether I might be the right person to help.
Just as importantly, it gives you a chance to experience what it is like to talk with me. The relationship between therapist and client is an important part of psychotherapy, and you will be getting a sense of me just as I will be thinking about how we might work together.
Sometimes a consultation is useful in its own right, particularly if you’re unsure what kind of support you need. Where appropriate, I may suggest another form of therapy, group therapy, psychiatric support or a colleague whose experience may be better suited to what you’re looking for.
There is no expectation that you make a decision immediately. I encourage you to take some time after we meet to consider whether you would like to continue.
THE THERAPY
My core training is psychodynamic, and my way of working is exploratory and relational. Rather than focusing only on symptoms or trying to prescribe how you should think, feel or live, therapy offers a space to become curious about yourself – including patterns, relationships and experiences that may not yet be fully understood.
Our past inevitably shapes how we experience the present, but we are also shaped by the families, relationships, cultures and social worlds to which we belong. I draw on psychodynamic psychotherapy, attachment theory, group analysis, existential and Jungian thinking to explore these different dimensions of psychological life.
Sometimes this means thinking about early relationships and patterns that seem to repeat themselves. At other times, we may explore questions of identity, sexuality, belonging, creativity, meaning or the tension between who you feel yourself to be and who you have learned or felt expected to become.
I work affirmatively, while also understanding therapy as a place for genuine exploration. For me, being affirmative does not mean assuming in advance what is right for you. It means creating a relationship in which different parts of yourself can be approached with curiosity, including those that may feel contradictory, difficult or not yet fully known.
Therapy may be relatively focused and short-term, or it may develop into longer-term work where there is space to explore more deeply. We can think together about what feels appropriate rather than deciding this in advance.
Ultimately, psychotherapy is difficult to reduce to a particular theory or technique. At its centre is a relationship in which something can be thought about differently. I aim to offer a confidential and thoughtful space in which you can speak freely, encounter yourself with greater curiosity, and perhaps discover greater freedom in how you relate to yourself, to others and to the life you want to live.