“If you want to build a ship, don't drum up people to collect wood and don't assign them tasks and work, but teach them instead to long for the endless immensity of the sea.” — Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
People who choose to come into therapy are looking for change.
My continual and evolving goal as a therapist is to focus deeply on what makes change possible, for it to be experienced in the therapy room, and lived in the world beyond.
The very exciting and ground-breaking contemporary research into how our brains both shape and are shaped by our experiences is a key place of engagement for me. Memories of significant relationships and life events are retained both in our nervous systems and internal narratives. They show up in the here and now of our lives both positively and negatively, often influencing how we conduct our relationships, but without our conscious awareness.
Our aim in therapy will be to bring into conscious awareness whatever is holding you back and to transform it in liberating ways. The neuroplasticity which characterises the human brain lasts a lifetime and creates the possibility of change at every age. How these changes can be identified, mapped out, and then lived, are the guideposts of my therapy practice. Deep within that, at foundational level, are the principles of love: when alone and disconnected we suffer; if we can feel understood, validated and connected to another, we thrive.