The theory behind psychoanalysis is that there is cause for some of the issues one experiences. In therapy, the aim is to come upon the cause of our problem, whether this be long-standing or otherwise. And in doing so, work to resolve -rather than managing- their manifestation as troubling symptoms.

A feature of analytical psychotherapy is free association, involving speaking freely without filtering your thoughts about present and past events.

The therapist guides exploration of these thoughts, some of which might be identifiable as contributing to difficulties in the here and now.

Each encounter is its own thing.

As a practising psychotherapist, I work with presence as a primary foundation, which entails deep receptive awareness, with all senses active. There is a you and a me occupying the same present moment

The work I do in the consultation room is to explore —guided by a non-dogmatic clarifying approach that is equal part existential-analytic and intrarelational—the complex interplay between the past, experience, how sense is made in the body here and now, and how these sense data shape and impact present choices, conscious and unconscious.

In my private practice I work with a range of manifest issues, with special interest and experience of working with clients with a history of self-abandonment and disassociation as a survival strategy, resulting from relational or developmental trauma.

The impact of developmental or relational deficits on adult lives can be the cause of deep suffering and distress, to the extent that the pain becomes too much to bear alone.

I also have a particular interest in working with clients with experience of non-ordinary states of consciousness (NOCs) and ego dissolution, such as peak experience, altered state of consciousness, emergent experience or spiritual emergence, and are seeking a non-pathologizing approach to support integration. My training in transpersonal, phenomenology and existentialist approaches supports this clinical work.

What do people talk about in therapy?

My experience is that it is never one thing that we seek therapy for.

From an existentialist-analytic perspective, there is the thing that is causing us issue, along with how we organise our being to accommodate the thing causing us issue.

Reason for seeking therapy can be as difficult as it is easy to name. It may centre around existential, relational or intrarelational challenges, or concerns / disturbances within fields of the psyche or phenomenon.

My experience lies in helping those who have struggled with:

anxiety, dread
disassociation, hypervigilance
inability to act, frozen states
low-self esteem, low confidence
relationship challenges, chaotic relationships
depressive episodes
insomnia, panic attacks, ocd, phobias
prolonged low mood, lack of creativity, devitalised
loss of intimacy, of sexual desire
loneliness, boredom, feelings of lack
unfulfillment, purposelessness
self harming behaviours, disordered eating
dependencies on people, on substances
attachment difficulties
repetitive patterns of harm, permissive behaviour
distorted self / body image
high aggression
sense of futility, suicidal fixation

I am anti-pathology, and stand against all forms of coercive oppression.

This includes psychiatry, and its forceful use of pharmacological medication to suppress process, forced sectioning under the mental health act, and forced adoption of pathologized labels as a condition of accessing mental health care.

I recognise that for some, a diagnosis can provide clarity, access to needed primary care services, and prescribed drugs to modify symptoms.

“People say, “why don’t you say what you mean?” We never do that, do we, being all of us too much poets. We like to talk in parables and in hints and in indirections— whether from diffidence or some other instinct”. — Robert Frost

How does one begin to name what one currently does not have language for?

In psychotherapy, one begins by speaking into the silence.

Though not easy, how to open to more choice in the present one finds oneself in could be said to be what this therapeutic endeavour is about.

If you are considering therapy, I offer a free 20-minute initial consultation where you can ask any questions you might have, and get a sense of whether we can work together.

You can email hello@radicalheart.co, use my contact page, or book a preferred slot in my calendar

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