How I work

While I employ a number of psychological orientations in my work, I am always relational, which means that I consider the therapeutic relationship to be the most vital of all the components in psychological therapy. This is well borne out by research, and yet sadly, it is often neglected in the pursuit of targeted care plans and rigid adherence to managed protocols. In my work with you, I will always consider the best available scientific evidence concerning your psychological difficulties. We will think about these together in terms of a unique formulation, or in other words, your personal story about what has happened to you, and how you have arrived at this point in your life. Thorough assessment of your difficulties is therefore vital, and will form the basis for our first meeting together.

I will discuss and recommend a course of action and suggest a number of sessions which can be re-considered and reviewed as we progress. Clients come to me for varying lengths of time - I have seen some for just one session and the longest intervention I have carried out, lasted for three years. The length of our work together may vary depending on the psychological orientation chosen, but on average, I will see people for about 15 to 20 sessions. It is also possible to work open-endedly, however, with you being the best judge of when you have gained what you had hoped to achieve by seeking therapy. Whichever orientation we work in, it is important to understand that the sessions build on one another. Understandings or insights gained early on, therefore become more meaningful as we further the work and consider how they might apply to different contexts in your life. The relationship between us and how this plays out in the sessions will also be important, as what you bring to it may well reflect the dynamics inherent to other relationships in your life.