You may be feeling fed up, burnt out, rejected, miserable or hopeless; it happens to many of us, the struggle with our mood and state of mind. You may feel the problems are in your relationship, family, job or friends. You may even feel that all of the above are absolutely fine and the issues lie deeper within yourself. You may feel that you’ve lost touch with who you are and your confidence. Maybe you feel anxious or find yourself avoiding things you used to enjoy. There’s a part of you that wants to get to the root of these emotions but this may feel like a scary idea.
These are all common thoughts and fears that many people have and all are reasons you may be considering therapy.
Getting into a good therapeutic relationship with a skilled psychotherapist or counsellor offers opportunities to look at the things that are troubling you. When you feel anxious or confused about who you are and your place in world, things may start to feel upsetting, overwhelming and exhausting. Working together with a therapist can create new meanings in life and explore the roots of confusing or difficult emotions. A comfortable and non-judgemental environment that encourages vulnerability and authenticity is the ideal place to have this kind of open and deep dialogue.
I wanted to be a therapist from an early age because I craved meaningful connections and I continue to enjoy exploring everything about my life and emotions. You may be looking for something deeper in your life and a safe space to think about what troubles or distresses you. Whatever your reason, it’s important to remember that therapy can be (and is) for everyone who wants it, you do not need to be mentally ill or desperate. These days, more and more people are finding that working with a psychotherapist gives them space to think, feel and explore the issues that the world often doesn’t have time for.
My style as a therapist is warm and compassionate, relaxed and conversational. I genuinely love doing this work and want to get to know you and create a therapeutic bond with you that will allow us to work in a progressive and healing way. As we work together, we will discover the messages and patterns of your early life, think about how they are affecting you in the here and now and compassionately respond to them. If they are no longer helping you move forward we will work together to break free from them, or adapt them to work with your life now.
If you are thinking about therapy, keep in mind that there are many different ways and styles of working and many different therapists. In your search you should feel free to explore this - I would encourage you to speak to different therapists and see who you think is a good fit for you. I will write about different modes of mental health therapy in a separate article. A good therapist will not encourage you to book multiple sessions until you decide if you want to work with them. It is important to be respectful of therapists’ time and efforts however the decision about who you work with is yours and yours alone. Take the time to speak to or meet with a small number of therapists before making this decision and ask questions about the way they work.
We can all benefit from a safe space to explore our life and emotions and I invite you to reach out and take that first step.
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