The majority of the counselling that I do is talk therapy. My aim is to draw on the strengths that clients already have and help them take action to improve their present and future lives.
I focus on helping people develop new insight and understanding into their feelings and behaviours. My work is to support, guide, challenge, and empower my clients so they can deal with past issues and present concerns.
The counselling process is similar to carefully peeling back the layers of an onion. Clients need to feel safe and in control as the layers of their stories are revealed. Together, we uncover deeper parts of the self that may be hidden from conscious thought…old scripts and tapes that are playing unconsciously and causing pain and anxiety. Clients can change their lives by bringing these old patterns and voices into the light of day for examination.
While the majority of my clients choose talk therapy, I am also trained in cathartic release work, a powerful tool for helping people express blocked anger, fear and sadness. Cathartic release work can help clients release feelings that got stuck many years ago.
I work from a feminist, anti-oppression framework that allows people to see that they are not simply isolated individuals with problems. We all grow up in families with issues and within a society that doesn’t always foster emotional health and well-being.
Therapy usually includes an exploration of a client’s family story. We look at the old hurts, resentments, and fears that need to be healed. We also look at coping techniques that the client developed early in life in order to maneuver through a childhood that was sometimes painful and confusing.
The goal is not to blame families, but rather to understand the family dynamics that contributed to the client’s current situation. Clients need to sort out the unfinished business that often makes them feel stuck in unsatisfying, and sometimes destructive, patterns in their lives.
People who have a willingness to look closely at themselves and their life experiences can absolutely change their lives.
They can:
- learn to build respectful, balanced relationships;
- begin to meet life’s issues and challenges from a place of pride and self-confidence; and
- make the kinds of choices that bring them happiness and contentment.