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Psychotherapy |
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Counselling, Psychology and Psychotherapy Below are some of my views about psychotherapy. This is presented as a general outline and is not meant to adequately describe my way of working to potential clients; although it does say something about my general approach to practice. A Philosophy of Therapeutic Practice 'Psychotherapy', 'Counselling', and 'Counselling Psychology', are professional titles for the practice of working with another person, with the intention of exploring experiences in a way that assists personal understanding. No one is an expert on life. I suggest that when searching for a counsellor, psychologist, or therapist, that a potential client might consider navigating with their intuition in order to find a person that they feel they will be able to relate to, someone who is open to self-examination as well as interested in the worlds of other people. Although the practitioner's experience, education, and credentials may be important, this is a person-to-person relationship before it is anything else. As in any relationship, client and therapist need to ask themselves, 'can I engage with this person'? Research consistently shows that no matter what other useful and important things are done in therapy, its effectiveness rests upon the human relationship within which everything else occurs. Even if the session is via skype or on the telephone, the interaction between the people remains a crucial vehicle for change. For me, psychotherapy is also a dialogue of depth. No matter how the life problem or issue initially presents itself, it often connects to important life assumptions, and raises questions about how we want to live, and what is meaningful to us. These are the kinds of questions which inspire us to contemplate together, which itself can be therapeutic and exciting. Therapy incorporates qualities such as attentiveness, compassion, courage, and honesty. It is a sometimes challenging but always respectful engagement with another person. My practice incorporates a democratic approach that accepts and welcomes those aspects of ourselves that are usually judged, exiled and ostracised, by ourselves and others. Therapy helps us to develop creative actions and more satisfying ways of living day-to-day. Explorations in therapy lead to action steps in life. Therapy is ideally a refuge where we can develop the ability to dwell with something that is initially confusing and unclear until it gradually reveals itself. This revelation usually brings physically-felt relief and enables new choices and opportunities. Each person has an uniqueness that needs to be discovered gradually. Each client decides how they would like to work, but presumably including all levels - cognitive, behavioural, relational & emotional, in order to achieve lasting change. Greg Madison
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