A bit of technical jargon

About

I am a psychotherapeutic counsellor trained in a pluralistic approach, which encompasses different modalities. In brief, this looks like humanistic approaches of therapy, psychodynamic, psychoanalytical, cognitive therapy and holistic. This means working with different schools of thought such as CBT, hypnotherapy, gestalt, psychoeducation and person centred. As well as a keenness towards psycho education and the role our brain and body play in our mental health.

Mission

I became a counsellor after personally experiencing the turmoil and discomfort poor mental health can cause. My mission is to walk side by side in partnership with my clients through these times of struggle. Helping them to recognise and create resources that will enable them to flourish.

My Role

A SHERPA (therapist) and Climber (client) ON EVEREST

For me therapy is a bit like this metaphor.

Sherpas are there because they typically have more knowledge and experience than the climber they are helping. However, if the Sherpa goes marching of and says “follow me” they will lose the climber. Because ultimately there needs to be negotiation, discussion and understanding of the climber’s view. The way the climber think is best to go, the route that works for them. Conversations about what the climber sees as their own resources they bring to the climb. Both agreeing on the end point of where to go to and how to get there. There may be instances when the climber says, “I can’t go any further”.

Part of the Sherpas skill is to think around this. What’s important is a collaborative relationship between someone with experience who is working in negotiation with some one who wants to get to the top. A lot of that conversation consists of "is this route working". The Sherpa knows where they are both trying to get to and can be directional as well as collaborative, should the climber say, '"no I don’t want to climb Everest now how about that mountain over there". The Sherpa would say, “just remind me why you hired me, it was to get to the top of Everest wasn’t it? that other mountain over there we can do at a later stage. What I often find with mountain climbing is we often go through difficult times in the climb and we sometimes feel like giving up but actually the only way to get to the top is to basically stay with it.”

By navigating different therapeutic approaches and techniques together we foster tools that work for individuals. At different times in our journey, we may have different needs. Sometimes we need to understand paths we have used before, explore the different paths, sometimes the path ahead isn’t clear, sometimes we need new boots and sometimes we need to eat, rest and reset for the next day of climbing. Or in other words, are our emotional, relational, and physical needs met. What has happened up until now to bring us here, do we need to explore that? Something is wrong but we don’t know or understand the situation or can’t see a way through. We need new habits, behaviours, and tools to keep on track.