My Approach to Helping

Through experience in my own psychotherapy and after being in practice for over thirty years, I have become passionate about the importance and possibility of lasting change. If you are in pain or feeling troubled about an aspect of your life then in-depth psychotherapy can be very helpful. This kind of therapy is based on us working together to help you find your own individual path to greater relief from pain and to gain more hope and satisfaction in your life.

It's very hard to describe how therapy works because it is based on an experience you have with the therapist. But, here are four of the main things you can expect help with if we work together:

Help to feel safe to express any emotions, thoughts, and fantasies that you may wish to. You may have felt embarrassed or unsure of what you are feeling or you may felt alone and isolated with your feelings.

Help to increase your awareness of feelings or experiences that you may sense are there but have not been able to put into words.

Help to make connections between past experiences and what is troubling you in the present. You may see patterns in your way of being in the world that you'd like to change but have not been sure how to go about doing that.

Help to feel greater self-acceptance and to experience more satisfaction in your life in a lasting way.

This is not the kind of therapy that provides readymade fixes or quick answers. It relies on us building a relationship of trust as we work together to help you discover more about yourself. This kind of therapy can be difficult and painful at times. But it is also relieving and exciting as you become more self-confident, self-aware and hopeful.

More Info About My Practice

It can be daunting looking for a therapist and trying to figure out who is going to be right for you. I have been enjoying working with people from all walks of life, with a range of different issues, for over thirty years. Please look over my website to get a sense of how I work and whether you feel we might make a good working pair. Feel free to call me with any questions or to make an appointment.

My View on the Purpose of Psychotherapy

Psychotherapy is here to help you when you are in pain. That is the bottom line. Psychotherapy can also provide solid, lasting change. It is the kind of change that takes time and itself can involve facing different kinds of pain and other feelings. But the purpose is to move through the difficulties with the help of a trained professional so that life does start to feel different for you. It becomes different as you discover new things about yourself, new avenues to pursue in your life and new joys to embrace.

What I Love about Being a Psychotherapist

Being a psychotherapist is an extremely rewarding experience. It is a deep honour to feel trusted enough by people who take an emotional risk and often share some of their most vulnerable feelings with me. There is a kind of intimacy that develops in a therapy relationship that, although very different than in other relationships, is significant, helpful and often very precious. I can think of no other profession that provides the kind of satisfaction that is possible when you are able to witness and participate in another person's emotional growth.