I N T E N T I O N
Counselling and Psychotherapy
"With each of our acts, the world reveals to us a new face"
Jean-Paul Sartre
Welcome
Hi, I'm Susan
Whatever brings you here now, welcome. It can be quite the step to take, maybe someone else has suggested you try it, you’ve been considering it for a while, or just found, now is the time.
I have been working as a counsellor and psychotherapist for over twenty years and worked with a wide range of people in a variety of settings. I also supervise and train other therapists.
I have worked with many people at significant and challenging moments in their lives and continue to marvel at how essential it is for us to put our experiences into words, to share confusions and pain, and make sense where we can - to discover meaning, when we can. I also have a great respect for the capacity of the people I’ve worked with to do this.
There is no issue too big or seemingly too small. This is your life. If my approach appeals to you at this time, it would be good to hear from you.
I work with individuals and couples and you can find out more about counselling and psychotherapy with me here.
‘Give sorrow words, the grief that does not speak knits up the overwrought heart and bids it break.’
Shakespeare
My approach
Benefits of therapy
Counselling and Psychotherapy offer a non-judgmental space and time where you can begin to describe what’s been happening for you. Through an empathic therapeutic relationship, the aim is for you to understand your place more fully in the world, the situation you are faced with and discover ways forward.
The history and foundation of counselling and psychotherapy acknowledges the core need and benefit in talking with another person, particularly at times when we feel we cannot be understood, or our experiences and events of our lives have made it difficult for us to understand ourselves, those around us or know how to connect with our lives or others again.
How I work
I work both as an integrative counsellor and as an existential psychotherapist.
Integrative counselling and psychotherapy essentially means integrating a number of specific counselling/psychotherapy approaches flexibly to respond to what you bring and fits with both your perspective and what may be troubling you.
Existential psychotherapy has also been described as an integrative approach as it seeks to take an overview and depth understanding of all aspects of our existence. Existential therapy takes a philosophical approach to psychotherapy and counselling and aims to clarify your understanding of yourself and your life circumstances. Existential therapy is based on the idea that we each confront fundamental concerns, such as isolation and relationship, freedom and limitations, responsibility and choice, our mortality and the mortality of those we care about, together with the times and circumstances in which we live.