My Approach

 

I trained at the University of Abertay Dundee where the focus was on an integrative “pluralistic” approach to counselling.

 

What is pluralistic therapy?

 

Pluralistic therapy starts from the assumption no two people are identical and that different people may be helped to feel happier in different ways, and that this is dependent on a variety of factors, such as:

 

• The reason(s) why a particular person feels depressed or dissatisfied in the first place

• The person’s particular personality, their background, and their current life circumstances

• The person’s strengths and positive qualities

• The sorts of things that, in general, have helped that person feel better or worse in their life.

 

Because this therapy assumes that different people need different things the first meeting is an ‘assessment’ session where you can talk a bit about your background, what has made you interested in coming to counselling and what you would want from it. If you decide you want to go ahead and start counselling, and if I feel that I can help you, I will work with you to try and help you identify what may be useful to do. This could include such activities as:

 

 

• Understanding what has happened to you in the past that might have led you to feel the way you do

• Learning to be more ‘yourself’ and less concerned about what others think of you

• Learning to think about things in a more positive way

• Changing your behaviour so that you do more of the things you enjoy, and less of the things you don’t

• Finding ways to improve your relationships with others

• Finding more meaning and purpose in your life

• Coming to terms with painful experiences, feelings or losses

 

I have experience working with many issues, including:

 

Abortion- Abuse - Addiction - Affairs and betrayals - Anger management - Anxiety - Bereavement - Bullying - Career issues and work-related stress - Carer support - Chronic pain - Cross cultural issues - relationships - Depression - Disabilities - Domestic violence - Eating disorders - Emotional abuse - Family issues - Infertility - Life stage issues - Low self-confidence - Low self-esteem - Miscarriage - Obsessive compulsive disorder - Passive aggressive behaviour - Physical abuse - Post-traumatic stress disorder - Pregnancy and birth - Redundancy - Relationship issues - Self harm - Separation and divorce - Sex problems - Sexual abuse - Sexuality - Sex addiction - Spirituality - Stress - Suicidal thoughts - Terminal illness - Transition and change.

 

Specialisms: I have specialist experience in Eating disorders/disordered eating