MY APPROACH
My approach is to work with each person's unique experience and way of making meaning about their life. I work in a collaborative, co-creative and compassionate way that respects each person's autonomy and wisdom to know or discover what they need. It is not my role to diagnose or pathologise a person's experience. Rather, it is to accompany the people I work alongside, with a focus on how the person experiences themselves, others and their lifeworld.
I am committed to what Johnella Bird (2003) has described as the 'development of processes where discovery is privileged' over and above a strict adherence to the 'structural boundaries produced by models'. I have evolved an approach that draws on ideas and practices that support this process, especially from narrative, psychodramatic and attachment-based therapies.
My approach is best described as phenomenological and dialogical, meaning that I stay as close as possible to what is happening for the person who is trying to give meaning to their experience and giving regard to the dialogue emerging within that person's struggle and between us in our conversations.
The other critical aspect of my way of being as a therapist is in giving space to knowing and naming how the use of power in a person's life has created or contributed to their happiness, situation or suffering. For me, a great deal of a person's suffering, my own included, is entirely understandable where power has been used to marginalise a person and 'other' them. Issues around social justice are therefore central to my understanding of the ongoing process in becoming a person and a therapist.
I am open to working with any aspect of a person's life unless I have a reason to recommend that you work with another more suited therapist/facilitator, which we will explore together. Please get in touch with any questions and to discuss availability.
COLLABORATION
The people I work with often describe feeling lost, disoriented, at a dead end or pulled away from the path they expected to follow. They may be unsure how to retrace their steps or find another way forward.
I cannot know in advance what that path will be. Each person’s situation is unique, and only they can know where they have come from and where they want to go. I therefore do not impose a fixed map, model, interpretation or diagnosis.
What I bring is experience in helping people navigate difficult and complex landscapes. I work alongside each person, trusting their ability to discover their own way forward.
COMPASSION
Compassion involves witnessing and giving space to experiences that may have been minimised, judged, punished or left unspoken. A person may believe they are “the problem”, “self-sabotaging”, “in denial” or simply wrong.
These thoughts can sometimes reflect a genuine wish to take responsibility. More often, however, the person may be carrying too much responsibility from a deeper belief that they are broken, flawed or do not belong. A compassionate space can help make sense of how power has affected a person’s life, whether within the family, at work or through wider social systems.
CREATIVITY
We are born with a natural capacity to explore, discover and grow through our relationships with others. With safety, love and encouragement, children flourish through play, creativity and spontaneity. This helps them discover what is possible and who they are becoming.
Loss, trauma or major life changes can reduce this spontaneity. It may then become harder to adapt, imagine alternatives or solve problems.
Part of my role as a therapist is to help create the conditions that support greater spontaneity, creativity and meaningful change.