My Approach
Exploratory and relational depth is at the heart of my practice.
I am here to be alongside you as you make sense of your own life and what it asks of you rather than tell you how to live.
What is Existential Psychotherapy?
Dialogue
Existence
Meaning
Every therapeutic encounter is unique and co-created through a genuine meeting between two people.
Here you can speak freely to your experience, and say what is not always possible in other spaces where there is an expectation to be a particular way.
All I ask from both of us is a willingness to speak openly and honestly, and pay attention to what unfolds, as best we can.
We are all thrown into an uncertain world we did not choose. The past and the future live with us in the present. We are not defined but shaped by our relationships and experiences.
Human existence is more like a verb than a noun. We are always in motion rather than static entities. I am not here to treat you as an object to be fixed or reduce you to a label, but to meet you as a person making sense of your own life.
Together we can explore whatever you are encountering, the choices open to you within the limits of your situation, and how you find your way.
Navigating a path in how we live our lives involves reflecting on what is at stake for us, and the stand we are going to take on who we are and how we find meaning. This is easier said than done.
Meaning can be disrupted in many ways, and life can lose its colour and its sense of purpose. Sometimes it comes with a wounding life event, other times a subtle feeling something is missing.
It might be that you arrive in therapy with a clear sense of what matters to you or none at all. Either way, we work with where you are right now to see what we can uncover.
The relationship itself
In my experience, it is through genuine engagement between client and therapist that relational wounds can be addressed. To engage with this process, which can at times be challenging, it is important that you feel safe and seen. It might take a little time to build the trust this openness requires, but that is something that we build together.
In my view, we see ourselves most clearly through our relationships. We might be affected by messages received about who we or who we “should” be from society, culture and family expectations. The look of the other can be exposing, objectifying and alienating. Yet being truly met by the other and taken seriously can be a profound experience, which is what therapy at its best offers.