What is Therapy?
Therapy is the engagement of two people in a therapeutic relationship. The focus is on the client as they are the expert in their journey and experience. The process will encourage self-discovery, self-acceptance, reflection towards healing and growth.
Therapy allows the client to be experienced in a different way which allows the client to experience themselves differently too. Therapy or counselling helps you explore your thoughts and feelings and develop strategies to address your problems.
At the core of therapy is the relationship between the client and therapist. Trust in this relationship will build over time when the therapist is able to show they are consistently reliable, able to respond with empathy and show unconditional positive regard without judgement to the client and their experience.
Person Centred Counselling theory has a core belief that everyone has an innate desire to be good and true to self but sometimes through life this gets covered up with experiences of conditional love and attachment, trauma, loss. In therapy a counsellor will help you to uncover that innate knowing of what is right and good for you.
Therapy can help you to - Identify patterns, learn to communicate and express feelings, develop coping mechanisms, improve daily functioning, and enhance quality of life.
The therapist is an empathetic facilitator listening without judgement and acknowledging the client’s experience. The therapist will provide a space that is warm, accepting, non-judgemental, safe and where appropriate gentle humour.
The therapist can see things that you cannot yet and will gently bring these to your attention, providing insight and clarity.
The therapist will offer attunement so that you feel heard, seen and understood in your experience and provide a calming stress response.
The therapist will help you understand inner experience which creates emotional resilience, so you are more able to manage emotional states.
The therapist will be listen intently to what is being said, how its being said and why its being said….but also attune to what is not being said.
The therapist or counsellor will gently journey with you through your therapy experience and gently offer noticing’s of what feels incongruent or where you might be getting stuck. It is not a therapist’s job to offer advice or direction but follow the clients innate knowing of where to go and what to touch on.