Individual Counselling Therapy

Broadly speaking, people seek therapy to reduce pain, to increase well-being, or to gain insight.

With or without a diagnosis (that's often beside the point of making change) they might be pushing back against stress and deteriorating mental health. They could have identified ways their life might be enriched and be wanting support to make the changes. Equally, they might have a vague sense that things aren't as they want them to be and be looking to start by clarifying exactly what direction to go.

There are no right or wrong reasons to go to therapy. If you want change, progress, insight, or perspective we are here to help.

The benefits of therapy have been verified in scientific research for decades. One way to frame the results is that therapy works to improve the lives of clients at about the same rate as coronary bypass surgery (~75% of clients). Another might be that clients who have therapy are better off than 80% of those who haven't. Comparing therapy to medication consistently leads to the finding that the therapy is equal to or better than medication for treating major mental health issues, and sometimes that the combination of both is even better than one or the other.

The research also says that the factor that makes the most difference to the outcomes of therapy is the therapeutic alliance - the relationship between therapist and client. If that relationship feels open and comfortable, and both feel that they're working toward the same goals, progress is made. This is why it is so important to feel a good fit with your therapist; and ultimately to work on the relationship, or even change therapists, until you do.

Our approach to therapy integrates the fields of attachment theory, neuroscience, trauma-informed practice, and social justice. Each of these are a lens that our work can be seen through and also function together to form a philosophy on how people work and how change is made.

We do our best to be client-led, meaning that the client can set the scope of work and make their own decisions about how to proceed. In the tradition of Carl Rogers and other person-centred therapists, we also believe that given the right conditions and tools people will solve their own problems.

We use tools from narrative therapy, polyvagal theory, mindfulness, emotion-processing work, and feminist therapy (to name just a sampling).