The Child ego state in the individual is potentially capable of contributing to his or her personality exactly what a happy actual child is capable of contributing to family life.
Therapy
I offer therapy both face to face and, where required and practical, on line.
Generally I offer an initial session which will give both you and me a chance to find out how well we can work together. You will find out if you think I can offer what you want and I will tell you what I think would be the best approach or even if I think you might be better off with another practitioner.
My main therapeutic framework is Transactional Analysis and I have 30 years experience with individuals, couples and groups. The Integrative training that I received broadened my scope and I developed a particular interest in Jungian psychology. I mainly work on brief therapy contracts with people.
I generally adopt a developmental approach that takes account not only of earlier childhood developmental stages but also current adult development. I find that often people experiencing a crisis in their lives are actually experiencing a developmental challenge rather than a disorder of some kind. Seeing their distress in this light often allows people to recognise the resilience and positive attributes they have.
Experienced in working with couples who are having difficulties in their relationship, I find that TA is a particularly effective way for couples to understand how their learned patterns of behaviour interlink – both to their advantage and disadvantage. It takes two to tango, as they say, so it also takes two to choose a different dance.
My own experience of Sandplay therapy introduced me to the wonderful potential of this way of working. I describe it is as “having a waking dream”. In Sandplay our unconscious leads the way and we discover things we always knew but didn’t realise we knew, unlocking our inner wisdom and creativity.
Another form of therapy I find effective is Constellation or systemic work. Hellinger, the originator, trained in TA and in Gestalt therapy as well as incorporating his experience of the traditional Zulu culture of South Africa. His ideas and methodology sit very easily alongside TA and with my own background. I combine Constellation and Sandplay, inviting clients to set up constellations in the sand arena.
More recently I have found Logosynthesis a very effective tool that unlocks the frozen energy patterns of childhood or recent trauma very rapidly.
Even when I am not working directly with one or other of these techniques, they inform my approach.
