An integrated approach​

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My clinical approach has been developed through substantial academic and clinical engagement.

Although as a psychotherapist I adopt diverse methodologies, my overall approach is informed by contemporary relational and psychoanalytic thinking, as well as by my clinical experience of working with people facing complex emotional and physical difficulties.

My published work explores the therapeutic relationship, intersubjectivity, shame, illness and the ways in which psychological and physical experience can become intertwined.

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There isn't always a simple explanation

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The way we relate to ourselves and the way we relate to others in the present reflects, in a nonlinear fashion,  an infinite multitude of factors.  

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Some of these ways of relating can serve us well. Others may eventually leave us repeatedly experiencing anxiety, disappointment, anger, shame, rejection or a sense of being misunderstood.

One of the core ideas in my approach is that our difficulties in the present are often unformulated experiences of how we relate to ourselves and others, echoing the multitude of meaningful interactions we experienced over time. A relational approach recognises that psychotherapy is itself a relationship which can assist in the surfacing of these maladaptive patterns.

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However, that does not mean I interpret all behavioural manifestations through a single 'relational lens'. As a matter of fact, I am wary of reducing complex human experiences to a single cause or even a handful. The reality is that relational work needs to run in parallel with the recognition that there can be neurobiological dimensions that heavily influence relationships with self and others. The therapeutic space allows us to explore these diverse patterns and explore their manifestation with a view to modulating them.

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I therefore don't see the therapist as a detached expert observing his 'patient' from the outside - an important part of my approach is self-reflection, which amongst many other aspects, also entails being aware of the therapist's influence on the therapeutic relationship.

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What I Can Help With

I work with adults only experiencing a wide range of emotional and relational difficulties, including:

 

Anxiety and Depression

Although these are terms that have been reduced to tropes in our current social context, these can take many unexpected forms. Therapy provides somewhere to explore both the immediate experience and the wider context in which they have developed and persist.

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Relationship difficulties

You may find yourself repeatedly experiencing similar difficulties with partners, family members, friends or colleagues. Psychotherapy can help identify patterns in how you relate to other people and what you have come to expect from relationships.

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Low self-esteem, shame and self-criticism

Some people live with an extraordinarily harsh internal monologues. Even considerable achievements may provide little lasting sense of being good enough. Therapy can help us understand where these ways of experiencing ourselves developed and why they can be so difficult to change.

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Anger 

Anger can feel frightening, destructive or impossible to control. It can also communicate something important about our experience. We can explore what lies underneath it as well as find tools that can help you modulate reactivity.

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Loss, change and identity

Bereavement, illness, relationship changes, ageing, career changes and other major transitions can unsettle our understanding of who we are. Sometimes the emotional consequences extend far beyond the event itself.

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Chronic illness, Functional Neurological Disorders (FNDs) and medically unexplained or complex symptoms

Living with persistent physical symptoms can have profound psychological and relational consequences. Psychotherapy does not mean assuming that physical symptoms are psychological. My approach is to take both the physical and emotional experience seriously and provide somewhere to explore what living with illness means for you.