Reflecting on my Private Practice over the past 5 years – an Overview

Looking back over the past five years, I am finding this to be a great opportunity to reflect upon, and to acknowledge, how much has changed in this time both for my clients, myself and the therapy world.

Many of us found ourselves working harder than usual, online, throughout the lockdowns. Client work took on new dimensions, for example I supported clients throughout the illness and death of loved ones who they could only support from a distance. 

I also found myself working more with young people and students, away from home in lockdowns or young people locked down at home with all the frustrations that this brought for them. Zoom opened up a whole new way of working.

I found that working online could be just as effective and creative as in-person therapy. Talking from the security of a client’s own home may even have made it easier for some people to open up about their problems and issues. I experienced that some clients found that they could go onto a deeper, more intimate level working online within the therapeutic frame. This was then an interesting transition for us both when a familiarity and ease was perhaps in some way challenged. This was then talked about and worked through; more ‘grist for the mill’.

I started walking talking therapy with some of my clients. It was a refreshing way of working together and connecting with the outdoors. Somehow the act of walking while talking out issues and worries had the potential to create an environment of possibility and change. I discovered that some people perhaps find it less intense to walk alongside each other making occasional eye contact, and easier to open up while walking and talking. I found this particularly to be so with clients with ADHD and some of my other neurodiverse clients and younger clients.

Working relationally is a fundamental part of the way I work. I believe that the relationship we develop with our clients is integral to the counselling process. Through the developing therapeutic relationship with my clients, they may discover insights into how they relate to people in their world, and other possible ways of being and responding. As they begin to reflect, and we develop a dialogue between us, there is a possibility and opportunity to develop further self-understanding and compassion. 

I have been working as a humanistic psychotherapeutic counsellor for 25 years and as a Clinical Supervisor for 12 years, with an emphasis on Gestalt Therapy. This was my original training :- what is coming up in this moment…looking at unresolved issues and finding a dialogue between parts of self in order to work towards a resolution. 

I have continued to widen my experience of working with relationship and self-esteem issues, identity, neurodiversity, ADHD and autism, loss and bereavement, anxiety and depression, dealing with a narcissistic parent or partner and clients dealing with serious health related issues.

I recognise the important role of cultural, spiritual experience and beliefs. 

I have also continued to work with young people navigating university and recovering from the effects of the pandemic. I have a teaching background and enjoy working with young people.

Supervision

In supervision we keep the client at the heart of our work. As practitioners in this field of work we can be inclined to work too hard and can suffer burnout, so in supervision we keep a close eye on self-care.  

Professional

My work is integrative, combining key elements of different approaches. I have trained in systemic family therapy at GOSH and more recently in Body Listening Somatic Therapy which I find fits so well with Gestalt. 

The shape of my practice is generally working with people aged from around 19 to 70+ from a range of socio-economic neuro-diverse backgrounds and cultures. 

This work includes looking at issues in current relationships, personally and professionally, unresolved past issues in childhood and growing up, looking at family dynamics using systemic family therapy training, IFS and Somatic Body Listening along with Gestalt.

I endeavour to bring a warmth and openness to my work, seeking to create a trusting relationship. I am flexible and empathic, working to develop understanding and insight to enable a client’s self-acceptance and growth. My aim is to work in a supportive and collaborative way, to explore and clarify my client’s options.

Having originally trained as a Gestalt therapist and then in Systemic Family Therapy, my interest in Internal Family Systems Therapy fits well with these. I have been using IFS with clients and supervisees over the last couple of years. I am now using and applying Somatic Body Listening in client work and this is an avenue I would like to further explore in my training.

I have worked as a Clinical Supervisor in private practice and at AYA and Plumpton College with counsellors, in groups and one-to-one.

My role at AYA also included running training courses, helping with fundraising, and attending management meetings. 

I feel privileged to be on the Accreditation Committee of UKAHPP. It is a rewarding role and also can be thought provoking and inspiring to hear of the interests and training of other colleagues.

I find supervision both as a supervisee and supervisor, a rich rewarding and enjoyable area of my professional life. I have also supported counsellors through their accreditation process.

Going forward, I am keen to continue with somatic body listening training. I also plan to run groups; training groups and also experiential groups – looking at ADHD, menopause and narcissistic parents/co-dependency.

I have respect for the diverse experience and needs of people who come to therapy. I believe that we all have the capacity to enhance our lives and develop our potential. 

If you'd like to find out more, then do get in touch and we can have an initial chat free of charge.