Each counsellor, coach, & therapist comes to their work with a number of underlying assumptions (whether they are consciously aware of this or not) that shape their approach to counselling, coaching, & psychotherapy. These assumptions revolve around questions like:
- What is the purpose of life?
- Why do people get psychologically “stuck”?
- How can meaningful change best be catalyzed?
My therapy & counselling philosophy: staying close to nature
“The dangers of denying one’s true nature can be very serious, not only because self-denial is a bad choice that causes persistent feelings of frustration and anxiety, but because in-authenticity threatens one’s quality of life at the deepest level…when…potential is treated like a neglected tree, underfed and pushed out of the sun, it does not die off entirely. Nor does it thrive and bear wonderful fruit. It merely survives in an atrophied form, its vibrancy aborted.” — Mary-Elaine Jacobsen, psychologist and giftedness expert
My website’s theme—growing with nature in mind—captures my approach to counselling, coaching, and therapy. I believe that each person has a true, inner nature (sometimes called the true self, or soul, or spirit) and that this nature yearns for expression (and growth) throughout an individual’s life. I also believe that each person’s inner nature has something important to offer the wider world. Each individual’s life purpose is tied to the intentions of her or his unique, inner nature.
Living life in tune with inner nature means living authentically and on purpose.
I believe that people often get psychologically “stuck” because they lose touch with their inner natures (though it is important to note that there are other factors which can also lead to being psychologically stuck).
When a person loses contact with her or his true nature—and there are many understandable reasons for this, such as trauma, dysfunctional family dynamics, and societal expectations—it doesn’t go away. True self retreats into the unconscious. The psyche, unhappy with this unnatural arrangement, expresses its discontent through psychological symptoms like addiction, anxiety, and depression.
My primary role as a counsellor, coach, and therapist is to help my clients reconnect with their true natures. I help each of my client’s unearth their true self, explore its many facets, and integrate it back into conscious, daily life.
I firmly believe that healing, transformation, and fulfillment arise naturally as we understand, accept and integrate the various aspects of who we truly are.
Psychological theories and tools
“The individuation process leads one ever closer to the person he is meant to be, with both a sense of awareness and a sense of wholeness. This journey is not just one of becoming whole, but also one of expansion. Through individuation, boundaries of who we are and what we allow ourselves to know and feel, extend even further out into the far reaches of what is possible: our potential” — Gail Gross
My approach to counselling, coaching, and psychotherapy is holistic and eclectic. In my work with clients, I engage the psychological, spiritual, energetic, physical, social, vocational, and cultural. My approach to counselling, coaching, and psychotherapy is informed by, and resonates with, ecopsychological, family systems, humanistic, Jungian, shamanistic and transpersonal ideas. I also draw on concepts from giftedness and high sensitivity literature.
I help my clients using a variety of tools, including insights from: acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), cognitive behavioural therapy, ecotherapy, energy work, family systems therapy, narrative therapy, person-centred therapy, psychodynamic therapy, and spiritually integrated therapy.
While theory and tools are important, the greatest gifts I offer to each of my clients are those of empathy, genuineness, and respect.