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 I work with an Integrative style of therapy because:

We are all born with innate needs equally, known as ‘Human Givens’ which seek to be fulfilled through the way we interact with our environment.  Our goal as a human being is to survive;   nature also gave us natural resources if we utilise them we flow, coping with and  managing  our individual life conundrums.

 

By meeting our individual needs, we survive.

 

Abraham Maslow created a hierarchy of needs, needs that are ‘given’ to us all at birth, to grow and develop we need to fulfil each level of need. If our basic needs are not met, then we would not survive. Some of these needs are obvious for example we all need air to breathe, food to nourish, water to hydrate and sufficient quality sleep to repair, process and refresh. Some not so obvious for example, a desire to reach for all we can be as an individual, achieve all that we can become.  If we don’t have our basic needs met than our higher needs wouldn’t get a look in.

Maslow hierarchy of needs - Motivato

"It is quite true that man lives by bread alone  when there is no bread. But what happens to man’s desires when there is plenty of bread and when his belly is chronically filled?

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At once other (and “higher”) needs emerge and these, rather than physiological hungers, dominate the organism. And when these in turn are satisfied, again new (and still “higher”) needs emerge and so on. This is what we mean by saying that the basic human needs are organized into a hierarchy of relative prepotency" (Maslow, 1943, p. 375).

Please click on image to expand

The common factor, meeting these needs are very important; for most of us in this country, we are lucky enough to have our basic survival needs met; however, they are not the whole story, as you can see from the diagram, we also have emotional needs as a given.  For example, we need security, autonomy, attention both giving and receiving emotional intimacy, we need to have meaning and purpose in our life and belong through a sense of status, competence and achievement.  We also need time and space for privacy to integrate, thinking, refresh ourselves, otherwise we would be overwhelmed with our environment and the conundrums our individual life throws at us. If we can met our needs with easy they become simple if we can't they are more complex. 

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The seat of my passion sits in supporting others enduring emotional & psychological suffering; I respect the whole person and holistic well-being. Offering confidential consultations, providing a supportive service where clients may be facilitated to identify what holds them back, what blocks growth, acknowledge and work through any concerns which may affect and/or interfere with satisfying living.  People have many concerns which bring them into counselling and indeed it takes courage to acknowledge and strength to seek support from another.  The process is both rewarding and life enriching, the counselling relationship a bridge for clients who wish to find a more balanced living, move forward onto the path of peace.

Carl Rogers of the person-centred school of thought said

 

“Experience is, for me, the highest authority. The touchstone of validity is my own experience. No other person's ideas, and none of my own ideas, are as authoritative as my experience. It is to experience that I must return again and again, to discover a closer approximation to truth as it is in the process of becoming me”!

It is our own experience which is the most important, how we perceive our world, it is to our personal experience and experiencing we look to unravel what’s not working for us in the here and now.  This might be unhealthy coping mechanisms, negative patterns, evoking negative feelings,  sensations and thoughts. It might be something which happened in the past keeping us on a vicious cycle of unhealthy patterns, evoking unhealthy behaviour. You may want support with coming to terms with a newly diagnosed disability or a diagnosis of terminal illness or a bereavement.  You might want someone to support you whilst you make sense of what’s happening to you right here, right now!

 

None of us fit into a neat little box, I believe 'one size doesn’t fit all’ therefore the style of therapy I offer is integrative which has you firmly in the here and now with a view to creating the horizon you desire. In many ways we are a product of our past and have constructed  as many associations or patterns which affect how we interact with our environment in the here and now.   I work in partnership with you, facilitating exploration of a variety of choices for the Self.  From a person-centred foundation and fostering a way of Being which is meaningful to individuals sense of Self.

 

Utilising an integrative style of therapy, means support can  be tailored to each individual’s needs, working at your pace, in your time, as you need.  My work is informed by training, experience and learning and  includes the skills, techniques and concepts from the following schools of thought. Humanistic, Person-Centred, Cognitive Behavioural (CBT), Solution Focused (SF) Brief Interventions (BI). Motivational Interviewing (MI), Transactional Analysis (TA), Psychodynamic, Jungian, Trauma, Bereavement,  Mindfulness and Psychosocial informed therapy.

Therapy will predominately focus on you as an individual with unique, personal potential to explore creativity, growth, love and psychological understanding; with a view to creating healing, growth, wholeness and resiliency for a self-directed and peaceful future.  Creating healthy connections between  mind, body and soul reaching for and achieving your fullest potential. 

 

I respect and honour each person as an individual with unique needs, I believe every person can reach for and achieve their fullest potential; regardless and in spite of their situation, with effort and commitment.   Change is inevitable and the one constant in our living. People hold the right to be self-directing and autonomous; by embracing existence and responsibility for our own living we create meaning and choice for how we will live our own individual life.  Human life is a process of and in becoming and can be seen and felt in the essence of all that we are at any one time.

 

 

Knowledge and skill is important but it is of little use unless it is applied to daily living. Personal experience has been my biggest teacher and continues to be so.

I am no stranger to the journey you may be contemplating embark upon; perhaps the only difference is I set sail before you and am now the captain of my own ship and committed to on-going life-long process of growth and development.

It is my belief ALL persons regardless of age, experience or capabilities can fulfil their fullest potential starting from where they are in the here and now.

I respect:

 

  • All humans have within themselves the resources and ability to create a positive  and satisfying way of being and living if they chose to do so. 

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  • All Humans have the ability to use science, reason, intuition, are conscious Beings and have an awareness of being conscious and aware of  self in the context of others. 

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  • Human have the right to be Autonomous, Self-directed, some choice which brings responsibilities & accountability. 

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  • All people are different, equal, unique, valuable and worthy of being prized regardless. 

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  • A persons behaviour is separate to the person and is not indicative of the whole person; the whole person is greater than the sum of their parts. 

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  • A persons own experiences have the most authority and meaning to their individualistic living.

 

  • Relationship is central to  healing from trauma, emotional and psychological dis-ease.

 

  • Here & Now is paramount to healing, people seek goals, meaning and value to their living

 

 I advocate for:

 

  • Self-discovery-understanding

  • Self-development

  • Self-care

  • Self-awareness

  • Healthy Self-expression

  • Human rights

  • Personal Insight & balance

  • Transparency & Genuineness

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I  Understand:


A diagnosis of a 'condition' whilst may be helpful for the projected path of the said condition whether a mental health or physical impairment  I understand the label is not the person and I prefer to meet a person as they are in the here and now when they present in session.

 

Counselling can support you whilst exploring and clarifying your situation making life more manageable, build emotional intelligence and build resiliency for a productive emotional life and peaceful living.

 

 

Carpe Diem - Seize this day


If you have concerns  you don't have to be on your own with them  contact me  and together we will create a way forward for a balanced, productive and peaceful way of Being and a resilient future.
 

  • Non-judgment of Others/Self

  • Compassion both with others  and Self

  • Psychoeducation as part of self-care

  • Mental Wealth

  • Life-long learning

  • Positive Role modelling

  • Humanness-Humanity

  • Connection with the living and the dead

FEE'S

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