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I offer daytime and evening sessions through the week.  Do get in touch via txt/whatsapp/phone (07763 120561) or email me at gail.c@theloftpractice.com to discuss what space is currently available to you.

My approach as an Integrative Psychotherapist is underpinned by valuing the uniqueness of every individual, whatever their race, self-identified gender, sexual- orientation, or belief system.

Theoretical foundations: Systemic/Existential/Gestalt and Transactional Analysis.

I work therapeutically both short and long-term, with individuals and couples.

 My aim is to support you in exploring what is going on in your life and has led you to seek therapy. From our first session onward, I will work collaboratively with you, tailoring the way I work, to find the best therapeutic fit for your individual needs.

Where there is trauma/painful loss, our work together will first focus on building trust and safety within the therapeutic space, so that you are free to share whatever you choose, without fear of judgement. With therapeutic support, you can then engage with the themes and issues that may be limiting how you live now.

 When emotions feel difficult, or beyond reach, I will work with you to find new ways to approach them. Drawing from trauma- informed models and keeping safety at the forefront of what we do, we can focus on breath, bodywork and visualisation, to help expand your capacity to regulate, tolerate and integrate strong feelings and engage safely with similar feelings in the future, without becoming overwhelmed.

At all times you will be in charge of what you choose to share in sessions. 

Through the dynamic of our safe and engaging therapeutic encounter, you will be free to work on whatever you decide to bring, knowing that you and the issues that are important to you, will be treated with the upmost care and respect at all times.

I take the humanistic/existential view that each of us is capable of change/growth throughout our lives and this idea, confirmed by recent developments in our understanding of the brain’s lifelong neuroplasticity, offers real possibility. So, whilst painful experiences that have already happened cannot be undone, through therapy you may be able to work toward a more liveable relationship to such events. This may in turn eventually lead to the shaping of a new narrative, where you get to choose not only, how these experiences are framed, but also how much space they are permitted, both in the here and now…. and in your future.

I may incorporate the use of creative materials, metaphor, objects and processes, ie sand tray work, to assist you in exploring thoughts, ideas and relational dynamics. Research shows that use of such visual materials/ symbolism may offer profound insights where words fail, and facilitate connection to non-verbal and out of reach (unconscious) thoughts, beliefs and feelings. You are of course free to choose whether or not to engage with such ways of working and I am always happy to adapt my approach, accordingly.

I offer all potential clients a free half hour consultation, (either face to face/phone or online), so we both get a chance to experience how working together might feel. 

If we both decide to work together following this, in the first couple of full sessions we will establish what themes have led you to seek therapy and what it is, you wish to work on. This initial assessment phase should feel like two people just talking, rather than an interrogation. (There are no questionnaires to complete and it is of course up to you to decide what you wish to share). 

Both GDPR/Covid and Therapy Contracts are issued in the first full session; outlining how I work, my insurance cover etc. for you to take away and read and these are then discussed and signed by us both.