What I work with
What I offer grows out of my clinical experience, my training, and, to some extent, my own life. Within it I see three areas that weave together.
- Loss, grief, and life turning points. The death of someone close, being alongside a person in palliative care, separation, illness, drastic change. Also grief for what didn’t happen – for a childhood that never was, or for a version of yourself that feels out of reach.
- Difficult past experiences and their effects in the present. Developmental trauma, the long-term consequences of abuse, the experience of being outside the ‘norm’ – of being unseen, not fitting in, being treated as less important.
- Experiences that slip past everyday language. Moments of deep change, spiritual crises, awakenings, situations in which your usual way of being in the world is no longer enough. Experiences that are socially marginalised, often relating to the deeper aspects of human life.
Symptoms (what is often experienced as anxiety, sadness, withdrawal, or lack of energy) I treat less as a problem to be removed quickly, and more as a signal of something that calls for attention. Relief, when it comes, tends to be a by-product of the work rather than its aim.
I don’t work with children or young people, I don’t work with couples, and I don’t carry out diagnostic assessments (for example for ADHD or personality disorders). Therapeutic work isn’t always the best choice at a particular moment in life either – during the initial consultation we’ll look together at whether this kind of support fits your situation.