The basics of therapy are simple: I would offer you a regular time and place to meet, genuine welcome, respect and concern, and all of my attention and experience devoted to you and what is important to you.

Therapy can also be understood as a focused conversation inquiring into two main areas:

• What is stopping you from living the life you would like to be living, or, as is sometimes the case, even imagining what that life might look like? What is calling for attention and expression?
• How can our meetings recognize, encourage and strengthen your ability to make changes for the better?

People sometimes wish that the therapist had a magic wand and, with one wave, could solve all their problems and make them happy. Although the reality is that therapy involves effort, the good news is that you wouldn’t be labouring alone. The alliance between us means that there would be someone in your corner, ready to work with you in your best interests.

The work, or nitty-gritty, of therapy involves bringing issues that are troubling you into the room and allowing yourself the freedom to speak your truth. This may include frustration, confusion, impatience, fear, regret, shame, grief and anger. Therapy offers a kind of temporary refuge from your daily responsibilities and gives you a chance to say how things really are with you. In turn, I would do my best to hear and understand, to offer contact and accompaniment, encouragement, support and clarity.

Another essential aspect of therapy is that it fosters self-awareness and personal growth. As you would begin to come out of the fog of not quite knowing what’s what, you could get to know yourself better, work through the pain that inevitably has to be worked through and move towards living a more satisfying life.

Because each person is unique there can never be a generic plan or one-size-fits-all method of therapy. However, it is my experience that when someone can relax in the company of a non-judgemental and compassionate therapist, he or she can start to recover the wholeness of who they are, participate more fully in their relationships, and engage with greater confidence and courage in the outside world.