A commitment to Personal Therapy inherently involves choosing a direction. It can be a minefield to know which direction to go in, given how many theoretical modalities of therapy are out there, given what you may have been recommended to try, and given and what you personally are wanting to change.
For my part, therapy seems to work best for clients when the relationship is central to it, and when there is both a gentle safe space to explore, but also proactive discussion and involvement from the therapist. Because I work from a trauma-informed basis, I like to share theory, aspects of psychoeducation or mindful practice in sessions. I am a hands-on and animated person and have been told I am not a “wafty” therapist. The technical term for my therapy would be “Integrative, Relational and Trauma-Informed”.
Whilst I do hold a waiting list a lot of the time, do approach me to see if I have space. Spaces come up relatively regularly and if I don’t have one, I do know a lot of therapists that I rate highly or that I supervise, who are allied to “Sometimes, Trauma…” and who work in a similar way. I may therefore be able to make a referral for you. Alternatively, it may be that you want to try group work instead: this is a recent way for me to open my practice out to a wider group of clients, whilst offering a really safe space.
Either which way, for 20 years I have had the utter privilege of listening to the stories of brave individuals who are seeking to change something about themselves in the present, or to allow how they see their own painful pasts to evolve. The aim of therapy might be daring to like yourself more, or daring to become a more assertive version of yourself – there might be many things you want to confront in the safetly of an online or in-person therapy experience.
For my part, in 20 years I have never found myself bored or disinterested in my clients. I keep learning and am wholehearted and full of passion for the wonderful opportunity this work has brought to my life. I believe that when you are wholehearted, you don’t tend to experience, exhaustion or boredom.
As the poet David Whyte said:
“Sometimes it takes darkness and the sweet confinement of your aloneness to learn anything or anyone that does not bring you alive is too small for you”. (Sweet Darkness)
After so many years in private practice as well as formerly running an agency (The Swan Project, Bristol) or working within organisations (Bristol Drugs Project, Oxfordshire Sexual Abuse & Rape Crisis Centre (OSARCC) and The Donkey Sanctuary), I have worked with such a wide range of presenting issues. I don’t feel it is necessary to make a list of “conditions” I have worked with here, as the labels themselves can do something to reduce the unique nature of individual experience. You are a person and whist labels help us to say what is on the shelf, it doesn’t really tell us what is in the tin.
However, for information, my main training/experience areas are:
- Compulsivity/Addiction
- Relationship and Couple Therapy
- Trauma (including working with Phase Two Memory Processing for CPTSD/PTSD)
- Psychosexual Therapy
- Embodied Practice
- Group work.
I only work with adults over 18. I enjoy working in longer-term relationships, mostly due to the attachment/traumogenic history of most of my clients. That said, I can offer short-term CBT or more direct work where necessary.
The enquiry form for One to One Therapy can be found HERE.
Sometimes, Trauma... 