What is Humanistic Integrative counselling?

I tailor my approach to you and your specific needs, drawing what I think will be helpful from humanistic, psychodynamic, parts work, mindfulness and somatic approaches. 

Humanistic counselling believes that you, not anyone else, are the expert on you, and that the counsellor’s role is to help you reach your true potential. This is done by accepting and valuing you for who you are, by being honest and transparent with you, and by offering you unconditional positive regard. 

Integrative means that the counsellor has been trained in a range of different approaches, so that they can offer you support based on who you are and what kinds of tools might be most effective for you as an individual. Sometimes this might look like exploring the past and early-life experiences to help us better understand what you’re experiencing in the here and now, or sometimes it might look like us exploring the sensations in your body, doing breathing exercises, or mindfulness practices. I also integrate parts-work when I think it would be helpful - helping you to get to know your inner child parts and find balance between your adult self and these other aspects of you. 

My approach is relational at its heart - this means that we will use our relationship as part of the counselling itself. Relational counselling values real, authentic connection, honesty, and transparency. My goal is that clients can feel safe enough in our relationship to start to explore some of the patterns that might emerge between us, and use our relationship as a space to take risks, try out new things, and receive support that might not have been available in the past.