Counselling

I have been providing one on one counselling sessions since 1999. My methods are infused with a combination of:

Transpersonal Therapy

A transpersonal outlook – which includes an awareness that each of us contains a spiritual core; this means I see no-one as “broken” or needing “fixing” rather that we each have access to deep inner wisdom and guidance – it’s just that we often need a gentle reminder of how to access this.

Understanding Past & Present

An understanding that each of us navigates our early childhood experiences by developing “coping strategies”; whilst these can be seen to be initially effective,  in the longer term they can become a severe hindrance in allowing us to experience our full vitality and potential. It is important to recognise and even celebrate the inherent creative capacity within each of us that allowed us to survive and to then allow our creativity to be brought up to date with our current life circumstances.

Cognitive Approaches & Body-Based Wisdom

A combination of both cognitive approaches and body-based wisdom. I have found that our minds often can be tricky whilst the wisdom found within the body is generally to be trusted. I utilize an awareness of how our nervous system adapts to our life circumstances and those of us who have experienced significant trauma are likely to have nervous systems that have been compromised. Before any cognitive work can be effective the nervous system needs to be brought back into a more harmonious state. This is analogous to trying to change the radiator settings in the house when the boiler is malfunctioning. The boiler is our nervous system, and this must be included.

Mindfulness

Mindfulness: Bringing moment by moment awareness to the here and now. Whatever past influences need to be explored will be found still present today – there is no need to go digging into the past.