Every client has a different experience of psychotherapy because every client is a unique individual with unique problems. Psychotherapists, too, differ in their training and orientation and it is important to find a therapist who works in a way that works for you.

Clients who find the NHS approach limited can sometimes benefit from the greater range of options offered by private practitioners. My own approach is based on a comprehensive exploration of the major theoretical schools and training in a number of different disciplines. The therapy I offer is:

Holistic: the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual aspects of the client are recognised as integral parts of the whole being. No part of the client’s experience is excluded from therapeutic consideration. Sexuality and gender orientation are fundamental to our sense of identity and these, too, can be explored and discussed in therapy in a way that is seldom possible elsewhere.

Humanistic: healing is seen as inherent in the client. The best understanding of an individual’s current condition, and what is needed for future health and happiness, resides within the individual him or herself. The therapist’s task is to help the client rediscover this innate understanding.

Practical: with proficiency in a number of disciplines, clients receive the therapy they need. It is also understood that, for most clients, financial circumstances need to be taken into account when considering therapy. Counselling and hypnotherapy clients are supported in making desired changes in the minimum number of sessions, while psychotherapy clients are assured of ongoing support for as long as it is required.

Psychodynamic: symptoms are viewed not as problems to be eradicated but as messages from the unconscious about underlying intra-psychic conflicts. Using techniques such as hypnosis, focusing, active imagination, dream work, regression and guided meditation, psychotherapy works towards interpreting and understanding these messages, with a view to resolving the underlying conflict from which they arise. With resolution of the underlying problem, symptoms melt away…they are no longer needed.

Relational: the client brings habitual expectations and ways of relating to therapy. The therapeutic relationship acts as a vessel in which this can be explored safely and through which new ways of being and acting can be integrated.

Transpersonal: the meaning we ascribe to our lives is central to our sense of purpose and fulfilment. In addressing our beliefs about ourselves and our place in the greater scheme of things we restore the spiritual dimension so sadly lacking in the prevailing cultural climate of ‘having and getting’.