Why would I see a psychotherapist?
The effectiveness of a good therapeutic relationship in alleviating symptoms of depression or mental difficulties is no longer in question. It is an accepted and essential part of all NHS and private mental health initiatives. Human beings are programmed to want to know what happens next as a survival mechanism. We are naturally seekers of patterns in our own behaviour and in others. Often this works well but unfortunately it can also lead us into a spiral of repetitive destructive actions which feel completely out of our control. Falling out with people, being angry with those closest to us and feeling as if no-one understands us are all painful symptoms of patterns which are now working against us rather than for us. Psychotherapy helps us to understand why this is happening and with that understanding comes the ability to change things.
Psychotherapy enables us to cope with life's difficulties better, it doesn't always make it less painful, because life can be very painful, but it helps to prevent it becoming more complicated than it needs to be, so that we can feel sadness or anger without becoming anxious and fearful. Difficult times don't need to become overwhelming or destructive.
What will it be like in a session?
It is likely that you will have come to therapy feeling that your behaviour or thought patterns don't make any sense, that you have no control over them. However, our work together, will help us to understand the coherence of these symptoms, that instead of being mad or bad, they are a completely sensible, necessary way that you have learnt to behave due to your life experiences. It is in finding and recognising these coherent truths that we can change. We may not need to delve into the past at all, (although at times this might be helpful) because the information we need to think about is available to us immediately in the present.
Sessions can feel as if you are being gently guided to saying and knowing things you have always known but didn't know you knew. The aim is that we work together to come up with a profound truth which until now has remained unconcious.
Why psychotherapy?
More recently the psychotherapeutic world has begun to assess itself and to conduct research aimed at discovering whether or not it can be of proven value in treating various disorders. Recently, certain methods in psychotherapy, which I work with, have been found to mirror the findings in neuroscience. These are exciting times for psychotherapeutic intervention.
How do I know if you are the right person for me?
You are entirely within your rights to go and see several therapists before committing to one. Our first session would enable you to make that decision. I work flexibly online and face to face sessions can be booked from week to week at a time and a pace to suit you. If we are working with EMDR then I may be more prescriptive however about the timeframe of the work.
