Psychotherapy for Becoming More Fully Yourself
Perhaps something in your life no longer feels quite right.
You may be experiencing anxiety, depression, grief, relationship difficulties, shame or self-criticism. You may be struggling with questions around sexuality, gender, identity or belonging. Or perhaps, on the surface, your life is functioning reasonably well, but you have a sense that something deeper is asking for your attention.
You may be asking questions such as:
Who am I becoming? What really matters to me? Why do I keep finding myself in the same patterns? How can I live more honestly? Is there something in my life that I have not yet understood?
For some people, these questions are also connected with spirituality, meaning, nature, creativity or a sense of connection with the wider living world.
You don't need to arrive knowing exactly what is wrong, or even knowing what you want from therapy. We can begin with whatever is present for you now.
I offer a safe, thoughtful and non-judgemental space where you can slow down, listen more deeply and become curious about your experience. My aim is to help you develop a deeper relationship with yourself and discover your own way forward.
Psychotherapy for people who are searching
I particularly value working with people who are psychologically curious and interested in the deeper questions of being human. Perhaps you have already explored therapy, meditation, spirituality or personal development. Perhaps you are simply beginning to sense that there is more to your experience than the immediate problem that has brought you to therapy.
Our difficulties are rarely the whole story. Alongside anxiety, sadness, anger or fear are the ways we have learned to meet those experiences. We may become highly self-critical, try to stay in control, suppress difficult emotions, lose ourselves in caring for others, or disconnect from feelings that seem difficult to bear.
At one time, these ways of being may have protected us. Over time, however, they can begin to restrict our freedom and make it harder to know what we genuinely need or want. Rather than trying to eliminate uncomfortable feelings or turn ourselves into somebody different, psychotherapy invites us to become curious about what is already here.
Together, we may explore thoughts, emotions, bodily experience, relationship patterns and deeply held assumptions about yourself. We can become curious about protective parts of you: the inner critic, the part that needs to stay in control, the part that feels ashamed, or younger parts of yourself that may still carry experiences that have never felt fully understood.
With compassion and awareness, these parts do not necessarily need to be fought or overcome. They can begin to be understood. Often, therapy feels less like becoming somebody new and more like returning to something that was already there.
A contemplative and relational approach
My work is grounded in Core Process Psychotherapy, a contemplative approach that integrates Western psychodynamic understanding with mindfulness and Buddhist psychology.
Before training in Core Process Psychotherapy, I practised as a Humanistic-Existential counsellor. Today I work integratively, drawing on different psychological perspectives according to what best supports each person.
The therapeutic relationship itself is central to my work.
Many of our deepest difficulties have developed through relationship, and relationship can also become a place where something different is experienced. I pay attention not only to what you tell me, but also to what unfolds between us: including feelings, patterns and ways of relating that may be difficult to notice elsewhere.
Mindfulness brings another dimension to this work: the possibility of becoming more intimate with our experience without immediately having to change, judge or explain it.
Together, we might explore:
- recurring relationship patterns
- painful emotions that have never felt fully met
- self-critical, protective or defensive parts of yourself
- childhood experiences that continue to shape the present
- questions of sexuality, gender, identity and belonging
- the relationship between thoughts, emotions, bodily experience and awareness
- questions of meaning, purpose and spiritual experience
- dreams, imagination, myth, story and symbol
- how greater awareness and compassion might create new possibilities.
My role is not to decide who you are. It is to become curious with you about what is already there.
Spirituality, meaning and the living world
For some people, psychological life cannot be separated from questions of meaning, spirituality or our relationship with the natural world. You may have a spiritual practice, be questioning an existing belief system, feel drawn towards nature or contemplative traditions, or simply have a sense that something important in your life cannot be captured by psychological language alone.
I welcome these dimensions of experience without imposing a particular belief system. Alongside my psychotherapeutic training, my work is increasingly informed by ecopsychology and Wild Therapy. I am interested in the relationship between psychological wellbeing, place, landscape, seasonality and our sense of belonging within the wider living world.
Our inner lives do not exist separately from the world around us. The landscapes we inhabit, our bodies, the seasons, our relationships and our connection with the more-than-human world can all influence how we experience ourselves and where we feel we belong. Where appropriate, therapy may include meeting outdoors, allowing landscape and the living world to become part of the therapeutic process.
I am also interested in the creative and imaginal dimensions of human experience. Dreams, poetry, myth, story and symbol can sometimes give shape to experiences that are difficult to understand through ordinary language. They can offer another way of encountering ourselves and discovering meaning.
I don't believe spirituality needs to be separated from psychological work. Nor do I believe it needs to be imposed upon it. There is simply space here to explore what these questions mean for you.
Queer, identity and difference
I am committed to LGBTQ+ affirmative practice and welcome people exploring sexuality, gender, identity and belonging. As a gay man myself, I understand something of the importance of being met without assumptions and of having space to explore the complexity of who we are.
I have undertaken specialist training in LGBTQ+ affirmative and queer-informed practice, and continue to deepen my understanding through engagement with queer communities and spaces. Queer experience is never only about sexuality or gender. Relationships, family, culture, community, age, class, place and our relationship with the wider world can all shape how we experience ourselves.
You don't need to arrive with a fixed understanding of who you are. You can be uncertain, questioning or contradictory. There is room for all of that here.
Finding your own way
One of the deepest values that guides my work is a respect for your own capacity to find your way through difficulty. Clarity does not always arrive because we think harder or try harder to solve a problem. Sometimes it emerges when an experience has been given enough time, attention and care. Over time, therapy can help you develop a different relationship with yourself: one that is more compassionate, curious and trusting.
You may begin to recognise capacities that have always been there: awareness, wisdom, integrity, creativity and the ability to respond to life rather than simply react to it. Therapy is not about becoming dependent on another person's insight. It is about developing your own capacity to listen to yourself, understand what matters to you and participate more fully in your life.
My hope is that therapy offers more than relief from immediate difficulties. I hope it helps you become more at home within yourself, more able to meet life's uncertainties, and more connected with the people, places and values that give your life meaning.
Perhaps, over time, this leads to something quite simple: a growing sense that you are enough, that your experience can be trusted, and that you can find your own way.
Practical details
- Sessions are 60 minutes and usually take place weekly.
- I offer face-to-face psychotherapy in Cardiff, as well as online sessions.
- Fee: £70 per session.
If something here resonates with you, you're welcome to get in touch. We can arrange an initial conversation and see whether working together feels like a good fit.
