Building Relationships and promoting safety
Before therapeutic work can begin (and even once it has begun) I prioritise building and developing our therapeutic relationship and your psychological and emotional safety. This means taking the therapy at your pace, checking-in, and listening and adapting to your preferences.
Exploration, Compassion and Rest, Skills and Theory
When you feel safe in the therapeutic relationship, then we explore some of the deeper or tougher elements of your current and past experiences. I aim to help provide you with insight as well as the chance to heal and grow. To do this not only will I provide you with psychoeducation and research (when relevant and wanted) around theory and specific skills (e.g., challenging negative thoughts and learning coping skills), but I will also encourage you to be gentle, mindful and compassionate.
Gentle challenge, Empowerment and Accountability
When we have a strong therapeutic relationship and have developed compassionate thinking and learnt new skills/developed more helpful thought processes, I will begin to gently challenge you. When challenging you, I am helping you to become accountable for your experiences and/or recognise unhelpful thought patterns and behaviours as well as empowering you to utilise the skills and growth you already have and have developed.