Finding the right therapist is a very personal process and will likely look different to everyone. Each therapist can work so differently, leaving some clients feeling they’ve found the perfect match while some are left with bad experiences.

A brief understanding of the “approaches” of therapists can be a great help, as it can give a clearer picture of what to expect from each person. My own approach integrates person-centred and psychodynamic work, while others might lean more on, for example, CBT or existentialist ideas.

Person-centered therapy emphasises the client's innate capacity for growth and authenticity.

Carl Rogers laid the groundwork for person-centered therapy. He believed that traditional psychoanalytic and behavioral approaches were too directive and did not adequately honor the client's subjective experience.

Rogers identified three core conditions essential for therapeutic growth:

Unconditional Positive Regard: The therapist accepts and respects the client without judgment, creating an environment of safety and trust.

Empathy: The therapist strives to understand the client's subjective experience from their perspective.

Congruence (Genuineness): The therapist authentically and transparently interacts with the client, expressing their true thoughts and feelings without pretense or facade.

Person-centered therapy aims to facilitate personal growth, self-awareness, and self-acceptance.

Psychodynamic therapy, rooted in the theories of Sigmund Freud and later expanded upon by other notable figures such as Melanie Klein, is a form of depth psychology that explores the unconscious mind and its influence on behavior, emotions, and relationships.

Psychodynamic therapy employs a variety of techniques to explore unconscious processes and promote insight and self-awareness. These may include free association (encouraging clients to speak freely without censorship), transference (observing how clients unconsciously project feelings onto the therapist), and interpretation (helping clients understand the underlying meaning of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors).

Key concepts in psychodynamic therapy include:

Unconscious: The notion that much of human behavior is driven by unconscious thoughts, feelings, and motivations that are outside of conscious awareness.

Defense Mechanisms: Psychological strategies used to cope with anxiety and protect the ego from threatening thoughts or impulses.

Early Childhood Experiences: The belief that early experiences, particularly those within the family dynamic, shape personality development and influence adult relationships and behaviors.

Transference and Countertransference: The transfer of unresolved feelings and conflicts from past relationships onto the therapist (transference), and the therapist's emotional reactions to the client (countertransference), which can provide valuable insight into the client's unconscious dynamics.

Clients may experience greater understanding of themselves, increased self-acceptance, and improved interpersonal relationships as they work through unresolved issues from their past.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is a widely practiced and evidence-based form of psychotherapy that focuses on the relationship between thoughts, emotions, and behaviors.

CBT employs a structured and goal-oriented approach to therapy, focusing on identifying and challenging negative or irrational thoughts and beliefs, and replacing them with more adaptive and realistic ones.

Techniques commonly used in CBT include cognitive restructuring (identifying and changing distorted thinking patterns), behavioral experiments (testing the validity of beliefs through real-world experiments), exposure (gradually confronting feared situations or stimuli), and skills training (teaching practical coping skills and problem-solving strategies).

By addressing dysfunctional thought patterns and maladaptive behaviors, CBT empowers clients to take an active role in their own healing.

Therapy can be a scary first step or a helpful maintenance tool, or anywhere in between. The premise as its heart is to prioritise your own understanding of yourself, so that you can accept yourself and/or change your circumstances if you wish.

A common anxiety in starting therapy is the idea that your own contribution might be too little, or wrong. The aim of my preferred approach is to encourage a comfort with this awkward feeling and put us on a level playing field. My role is learn about you so you can learn about yourself - any response or even no response is valid and helpful to the process.

Using the approaches outlined here, an initial consultation combines direct questions and gentle, casual conversation aimed to understand you, your history, your current circumstances and your feelings as best I can. If we feel we could work well together, this would be the foundation of a therapeutic relationship being built, in which growth and challenges feel possible and safe.