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What do I need to know about this therapy? |
Your therapist will neither judge you nor try to change you. She will not consider you to be ill, but will expore with you how you came to feel sad, confused, or disappointed. She will listen out for who you are and help you become fulfilled in the life principles you have chosen. Your therapist will not tell you what to do. Instead she will guide you towards accessing your own answers. She may highlight imbalances and paradoxes that have stopped you feeling complete. As you begin to notice how and why you have created the life you have, change happens automatically. You will experience what it is like for someone to meet you in your world. You will embark on a journey together with your therapist while they guide you to where you desire to be. 'Existential-phenomenological' psychotherapists understand people as free to create their lives out of the choices they make. For us to have a sense of our freedom we need to accept responsibility for our choices. If we discover our lives are not the way we had hoped, we look for answers outside ourselves. This can block our ability to have mastery over ourselves and hinders us from making new choices. Is psychotherapy different from counselling? Psychotherapists have had long and thorough training which involves studying psychological theories as well as counselling techniques. Psychotherapists do not merely listen, they will use their experience and life skills to help you make the changes you want. Psychotherapists will not just repeat back to you what you have said, they will challenge you in an appropriate way to help move you on from stuckness. What does existential-phenomenological therapy mean? This is a philosophical approach to psychotherapy. The philosophy holds that it is natural for humans to have dilemmas, emotional and psychological pain. Rather than run away from life's difficulties, if we can stay with our anxieties they actually lose their intensity. Covering up problems only hides them temporarily. In this therapy you will be challenged to thoroughly explore and transform the way you see your life, even if this seems impossible right now. It's not necessary for you to have knowledge of this philosophy or how therapy works for it to make the changes you want - that's the therapist's role. If you have further questions, please do not hesitate to contact me on 07961 988 657 or dany@psychotherapyandcounselling.org |