About counselling – I work with people, couples, families and groups from all walks of life who are experiencing aspects of their lives not happening in the ways they hoped or expected it would. My practice is animated by the question “How might we live?”. Not how should we live, but how might we live?
I use the metaphor of fungi to describe this. Often associated with disease and decay, fungi quietly break down the remains of what has gone before, reducing them to their constituent parts so they can be used to rebuild and reanimate new life. Modern economic theory emphasizes production, growth, creating things and seeking to preserve them. Without fungi, nothing can break down, and when things are no longer useful they just build up.
At Luminous Counselling, we explore together as many aspects of the situation as you feel comfortable with, each from their own unique perspective. You, the problem, your marriage, drugs, your hopes and dreams, your fears, the situations in which they take place, they are all valid and all acknowledged.
When confronted by grief, hurt, failure, despair and any other number of uncomfortable feelings and experiences, the understandable temptation is to get rid of the discomfort. However these experiences have much to teach us, and perhaps our uncomfortable feelings are the building blocks of new and exciting things to come.
I use a variety of counselling methods to explore this with you, primarily Narrative Therapy. “Narrative therapy seeks to be a respectful, non-blaming approach to counselling and community work, which centres people as the experts in their own lives. It views problems as separate from people and assumes people have many skills, competencies, beliefs, values, commitments and abilities that will assist them to reduce the influence of problems in their lives.” – Dulwich Centre
I also use a variety of other counselling approaches depending on your preferences and suitability for your situation. Perhaps it is not necessary for a journey through the wilderness, and identifying and achieving goals is what is needed. I am experienced in such approaches such as Emotionally focused Therapy and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy.
Meeting me – When we first meet up, it is important to see whether you feel we connect, and that I am the right counsellor for you. If you feel that I am, we discuss further what you'd like out of counselling, and how we can work together to achieve that.