In individual psychotherapy, I lend an ‘imagining ear’ listening carefully to what you have to say and also listening ‘between the lines’ as it were, for what remains unspoken. We engage in a ‘healing conversation’: Not just an intellectual enterprise, but a process of ‘emotional transformation’.
As the rhythm of our meeting develops over time, your psychotherapy becomes something you can ‘lean into’, something outside your everyday life that nevertheless takes its place in your inner world as a resource to draw upon. We make use of your remarkably human ability to have one thing stand for another: Our relationship, your process, and my consulting room all have their part to play.
We generally meet once or twice a week, but sometimes it may be helpful to meet more or less often. My task is to be a good student of you, your life and your relationships, approaching you with an open mind.
I allow you to set the agenda, listening carefully to what you are saying and how you say it. I avoid imposing my own view and will invite you to experience any anxiety this may bring as fruitful to investigate. There is no requirement to bring something to your appointments to talk about.
I understand your symptoms as vital information indicating what is happening in your inner world and as something to be understood and worked through. As we continue to meet, unconscious aspects of your inner world will make themselves felt in our work together in ways we can think about, and work with.
I offer the choice between sitting face to face or lying on a couch. Using a couch can sometimes be helpful allowing us both the freedom to reflect on what is happening without the distraction of facing each other. In a sense it cultivates the capacity to be alone in the company of another, allowing you a private space within your therapy.
