Frequently Asked Questions

What can I, as prospective client, expect after I contact you?

After you contact me, we will schedule a free initial session. This is done on telephone and last about 20-30 minutes. The purpose of this initial consultation is to help you get a sense of whether I and my offering could be helpful for you; and for me to see if I am able to support you.

You are invited to share what is it that you are looking for, your hopes from counselling and the areas that you would want to work on. You can share what you feel is important for me to know about you and ask if you have anything in your mind. I will also ask you some questions about your life circumstances.

There is no expectation or obligation from you to continue beyond this initial conversation. If we so decide, we then can book our first session.

During the subsequent first 'proper' session, we go through and discuss an agreement outlining us working together. We will also discuss in further detail the issues and areas that you want to work on. The sessions are your time with you choosing what to bring to each one.

We review our work every 6 or so sessions. There is no expectation to commit or work towards a certain number of sessions. We can do that, or work open-endedly. Throughout I invite you to share how you find the sessions including what is helpful and beneficial for you, and importantly, what is not.

You are free to end our work at any point. Ending consciously is an important part of therapy, and a source for strength and resilience. I invite you to allow for an appropriate ending for our work and relationship.

I feel unsure and confused about starting therapy. I don't know which therapist or modality is suitable for me?

Therapy is a deeply personal process. It is a significant decision and investment into yourself. It is natural to have variety of feelings evoked when considering therapy.

I offer a free initial session for you to experience how you feel being and working with me. I believe that feeling comfortable with your therapist is an important starting point and foundation for any helpful therapeutic relationship. Ultimately, the quality of your relationship with your therapist is more important than the modality they practice.

Yet, we can feel comfortable and, at the same time, have conflicting thoughts and feelings. This is natural. There are many therapists, possibilities and modalities. Navigating this can be confusing and difficult to know how much importance to attribute and to what.

While looking for a suitable therapist, you may find this BLOG post helpful.

Remember that therapists, including myself, are here for you. Not the other way around. I would encourage you to take note of your feelings and follow your own inner compass in navigating this journey.

How can therapy help me? What is your philosophy?

My role as a therapist is to support you finding and tapping into your own inner resources, in order for you to live a more fulfilling life and actualise your potential.

My outlook is that you already have the needed potential and guidance within waiting to be revealed for growth and healing. What works for someone else, might not work for you, and indeed can get on the way of you being in touch with yourself and your needs. Your autonomy and choice are on the driver's seat. You choose what you want to work on, and at your pace. This is about you.

My approach is that therapy is not so much about "fixing problems", as it is about healing, growing and evolving as holistic human being. It is natural to see issues as problems and hope for a fix. I invite you to do a little exercise: Take a moment, and instead of "problems" and "fixes" relate with the areas that you would like to work on as parts of you that need healing, parts of you that remain unexpressed or unwitnessed; or maybe as blockages that prevent you living a more fulfilling life, or invitations for further exploration? I wonder what comes up for you?

I appreciate that this does not take away any of the challenges or difficult feelings you may be experiencing. It is, however, to illustrate that how we relate with life can, and does start changing our experience. Working relationally is not just about inter-personal relationships, but how we relate with our experiences and feelings including the more difficult ones, and ultimately with our own selves. Our ways of relating are in parts informed by our caregivers and early experience. Yet, a bit like wearing lenses, we become unaware of their existence. Therapy can help you to become aware and unpick what serves your growth, and what doesn't.

While the therapeutic journey is done together, it is primarily a journey within. I draw on the timeless Heroine's/Hero's Journey by Joseph Campbell and Carl Jung's depth psychology. By acknowledging how you feel, you are taking an important step on that journey, and in fulfilling your responsibility to yourself. We cannot think our way to healing. Healing happens through feeling.

What does relational and integrative approach mean?

Most therapists are integrative these days. This means that the therapist draws on and blends in more than any one approach. Some are "purists"and adhere to a singular approach. Others call themselves "eclectic" and switch between different therapeutic approaches. My therapy model is relational and integrative.

By relational I mean that I put emphasis on how we relate with one another, our feelings and experiences, and ultimately with our own selves. The quality of our relationship is more important than specific theoretical approaches. To understand our relationship and its different dimensions, I draw on the so-called Clarkson model, and the five facets of the therapeutic relationship.

Integrative means that I draw on several therapeutic theories and schools of thought. The main ones I draw on include: