Taking the step to discuss your personal difficulties can feel overwhelming or intimidating, nevertheless it can also be a step towards addressing the underlying problems.
People may come to therapy for many different reasons, often relating to interpersonal/family relationships, life dilemmas, feelings of general dissatisfaction with life, sex/gender issues, experiences of loss, experiences of trauma, intrusive thoughts, compulsions, self-destructive behaviours, addictions, lack of confidence, experiences of depression, anxiety, panic and phobias. Sometimes people come to therapy because of something recent that has happened in one’s life, other times for issues that are long-standing, and may have become unbearable.
Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy can help you uncover the unique meanings of your experiences and suffering, and support you in identifying the changes you want to make. I find every session is a unique and significant encounter, and the therapy I offer is not a one-size-fits-all approach. Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy is not about teaching you how to have the “correct” thoughts and emotions, or offering general advice for your concerns.
In my clinical work, I am informed by my Integrative training in Counselling Psychology and my formation process in Psychoanalysis. Both disciplines place significant value on the individual subjective experiences, and the ways in which our particular experiences impact us and may shape our lives and choices. I am especially interested in the narratives we develop about ourselves and our personal histories, and the gap between our experiences and the language we use to articulate them. I am also attentive to the ways in which unconscious forces drive our behaviours and shape our thoughts and feelings, for reasons that are many times not obvious to us. Your dreams, daydreams, fantasies, and unexpected patterns and repetitions are all part of the material that is most unique to you, and relevant and productive for the Psychotherapy work we will do together.
If we meet for a session I will invite you to speak as freely as possible, in a safe and non-judgemental space. If we decide to proceed to work together, our therapy will be open-ended, which means that it may last from a few weeks, to months, or years. Our sessions will take place weekly, and we may agree to meet more than once in a week, depending on what you find more useful at a given time.
Please contact me if you would like to arrange a brief telephone consultation, or would like to meet in person to discuss what brings you in therapy at this time.