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Face to face counselling will take place either at Oxford Counselling Centre, based at the Old Music Hall in Cowley Road, or in a small outbuilding at my home in Great Rollright. I use a mixture of person-centred, gestalt and transactional methodologies to inform my practice, but I believe the most important thing I can offer my clients is an honest, safe and compassionate space in which to explore what matters to them most.
Person-centred therapy has a focus on the needs of you as an individual and looks at whatever you want to bring to talk about on the day. It has frequently been described as walking alongside you as you explore your thoughts and emotions. It is based on the work by Carl Rogers that cites three core conditions necessary for a therapeutic relationship to be present. These are empathy, unconditional positive regard towards the client, and a congruent or genuine approach.
Gestalt therapy is focussed on the present, rather than what has happened in the past, and whatever the client brings into the room. It works by increasing self-awareness and being able to understand thoughts, emotions and behaviour through developing new perspectives to life.
Transactional analysis looks at the ‘script’ we write for ourselves and the repeated patterns that we are in. It looks to change our life script by exploring ourselves through ego states, which are ways in which we think, feel and behave, based around the relationship between the ‘parent’, ‘adult’ and ‘child’.
By using these modalities as a foundation for working with clients, I am able to help in a holistic and accepting way, providing a professional, personal and inclusive experience.