I have been a qualified full time counsellor and psychotherapist for 26 years, in a wide variety of settings and working across different cultures. My approach is humanistic/gestalt, while integrating comprehensively other techniques from many disciplines, meaning that there are always many options available to make sure we work on your issues in the best way possible.
I work both short and long term. Usually during a first session, after taking a few brief details from you, we would spend the time talking about the issues which are of most concern to you. Often when presenting for therapy, either the issues have been around for quite some time and the pressure to explore them has been building up, or something difficult may just have happened. Either way, I provide a space for you to be able to discuss and explore what is of most concern to you, to lay out on the table all the different things you have been carrying, in order for us to be able to assess what will be most productive to work on further.
Most people find that after the first session, they feel some relief for having spoken about the things they have been carrying around with them. Usually they would also have made some insights into what the issues are about. I usually spend the last few minutes discussing how it has been for you visiting me, and if you think it will be worthwhile carrying on to explore the issues further, and we would make a plan to continue (if you feel this would be of benefit) usually for another 5 sessions when we would review your progress and see if you want to continue longer than that. I work usually between 6 sessions and 6 years, and everything in-between, depending upon what you are looking for from therapy- overcoming a particular problem or crisis, or overcoming longstanding themes and issues in your life.
I have found that the way I work sensitively assists the client to get to the heart of the matter quickly, which means that we can spend more time working on the issues which matter. I work relationally, yet have a lot of experience working in different ways which can help you overcome different issues, using techniques from many different schools of counselling. However, these are only used where appropriate, and I am always fully open with you as to how I am working- there is nothing done secretively to you in sessions but the work is a collaboration between the two of us.
While I have worked with most issues and my specialism is people, I do have experience of working particularly with a few issues:- Autism and Autism with PDA, Loss of artistic creativity (writers block, loss of motivation for musicians/actors etc.), supporting your search for meaning (what is it all about?), Depression and Anxiety, and Crises of faith and people moving away from religion. While these are my specialisms, I find it healthier and rewarding to work with all issues.
Currently, all my therapy work happens either face to face, via Zoom or outdoors.
James Barrott 