We can be curious about what you hope for and what you need. These form a map of where you want to get to in your counselling journey.

Relationship is at the heart of this work as your deepest wounds have most usually come from early relationships. Daring to be vulnerable and feel the compassion of another can help to process pain that otherwise is locked away limiting how close you may dare to be to others.  Protective survival patterns of relating, feeling and thinking kept you safe and were essential then. In the therapeutic relationship we can learn that they may no longer serve you well and may not be needed.

The reality is most people are propelled to do the work because their wounds are showing up in repeated patterns of life and in their relationships. Strategies originally designed to numb the pain usually bring their own problems such as addiction, self-harm, mental health difficulties, marital breakdown, broken relationships and much more.

Until we learn what it means to be safe in relationship and in ourselves, we do not relinquish these survival behaviours even when they obviously have unhelpful consequences. The therapy relationship is a strange mix of being deeply personal and professionally boundaried.  This provides a powerful container to face into painful and overwhelming memories, to grieve, to learn that your needs were ok and to embrace your vulnerability as an important part of you in your endeavour to open your heart to life.  Radical change comes from shifts within your inner world formed from new experiences of being truly known and accepted and so knowing and accepting yourself.