Therapist

Sue Hinds

People seek psychotherapy for many reasons but a common factor is usually some form psychological discomfort. It may be that events from the past are continuing to influence the present in negative ways. Patterns of behaviour established out of awareness may be repeated in current relationships in a way that is unhelpful, causing distress. Many people approach the therapeutic process because they feel a need for self development and have decided it’s their time to explore personal growth.

The aim of psychotherapy is to help the client arrive at a fuller understanding of their way of being in the world and how this affects their motivations, relationships and emotional distress. The process is no longer viewed as something that the “expert” therapist does to the client through some sort of magic cure, but rather as a collaborative journey aimed at helping the individual enhance their own sense of wellbeing. The therapist is not there to modify behaviour but to assist the client explore how they want to change and help them to resolve their difficulties in their own way.

There are many psychotherapeutic approaches – some practitioners work within one distinct theoretical framework, for example psychoanalysis, while others prefer to integrate several approaches into their work, determined by client need. Above all, and regardless of approach, it is the client – therapist relationship which is central to the effectiveness of the process. Healing occurs in the context of a non-judgemental, authentic and empathic meeting with the client, with confidentiality at its heart.