Therapy is a much-used term, but it is often unclear what the process actually entails. Much of it depends on the therapist’s way of working. I am an integrative therapist, which means that I weave elements of the three main therapeutic schools of thought together, to offer each client the most appropriate therapy for them. My foundation is drawn from the person-centred school and rests on the belief that the most important element of successful therapy is the relationship between the client and the therapist. This is based on empathy, lack of judgement and authenticity. The Psychodynamic and Cognitive Behavioural schools also inform and influence how I practice.

 

With the right therapeutic relationship, the client feels able to trust and thus, to reveal elements of their self that they may never have exposed before. This often brings immense relief for the client. With the therapist’s non-judgmental acceptance of the client’s emerging “whole self”, clients learn to accept their self and to integrate all parts of that self. Thus, the client can move more easily through life treating themselves with compassion and self-acceptance.