"I just want to feel better.
I want to feel like myself again"
There are lots of reasons that might lead someone to seeking out therapy, yet one complaint tends to be fairly universal regardless of the unique symptoms being experienced: a desire to return to a sense of self that currently feels changed, lost, or seems yet to be found.
Think about that knowing, it comes from a place that goes beyond logic, reasons, and sometimes language. We try to explain to someone this sensation of needing to return to ourselves, and somehow it's hard to describe with words alone, and we can be left feeling more misunderstood, without a sense of direction; without the hope we can journey somewhere more meaningful.
That is where what I do as a creative psychotherapist, can offer a really powerful intervention that has the potential to guide you home, whilst offering opportunities to discover invaluable insight and wisdom on the way.
I work with people who:
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Feel anxious, depressed, suicidal, stuck and/or hopeless
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Are experiencing a loss of pleasure, motivation, and inspiration
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Are wrestling with changes in themelf, or their lives
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Are struggling to move beyond a distressing experience
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Are grieving or have experienced loss
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Are experiencing existential concerns or questioning
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Who want to better understand themselves; their patterns of behaviour, and their values
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Who are seeking to make-meaning where there is a lack of
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Are struggling with self-acceptance and need support in developing self-worth, self-esteem, and more affirming beliefs
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Need compassionate and non-judgmental support exploring aspects relating to identity
My Approach
My approach as a therapist is informed by my varied professional training, as well as my own lived-experience and years of personal therapy, which I feel is the place I learned the most about what it means to be a therapist.
I'm open about this because I want you to know that I know what it's like to be in a therapy chair and I believe competent therapists should have experience walking the paths they are going to guide clients on.
My journey into personal therapy came about due to an unexpected loss of someone extremely significant in my life. I sought out a professional to help me navigate overwhelming feelings I felt I wasn't able to look at alone. At first I wondered if my situation was 'bad enough' to warrant a therapist?! I felt a little shadow of shame about wanting, or even needing, professional support and guidance. However, stepping into therapy changed my life in so many unexpected and wonderful ways. I wasn't entirely sure what to expect, or hope for when I started therapy. Yet, I didn't expect therapy to pleasantly surprise me, and completely change the direction of my life, my relationships, and my sense of self, for the better.
I am a therapist who is trained to Masters Degree level and who works existentially and creatively, as well as theoretically and pragmatically. I am a fully qualified arts psychotherapist which means that sometimes sessions can be more free-flowing and focused on your feelings, experiences, and inner world. However, I am also trained in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (a values based intervention that stems from CBT), and am CBT and DBT informed due to having worked in multi-disciplinary teams. Therefore, sometimes I know we also need to employ some structure, and examine your thoughts, behaviours, and core-beliefs, in order to understand them, and then adapt them to serve you better.
LGBTQIA+ Affirming Therapy
I am dedicated to holding safe, affirming, and confidential space for clients in the LGBTQIA+ community.
All aspects of your identity relating to gender identity, gender expression, sex, sexuality, sexual orientation, and relationship diversity, are important, valued, and will be respected during the process.
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Do you consider yourself highly sensitive?
You don't have to consider yourself 'creative' to benefit from Dramatherapy, but creative arts psychotherapies can be particularly beneficial for artists, creatives, and highly sensitive individuals, who can often feel overwhelmed and exhausted by their ability to feel.
I understand what this is like, and have navigated my own journey cultivating and strengthening my relationship with the creative and sensitive parts of myself. I can offer a therapy experience as unique as your internal world is, and I very much want to co-create a meaningful therapeutic experience with you, that validates and affirms your ability to feel and create.
