Integrative psychotherapy

What Is Integrative Psychotherapy?

I am trained and registered as an Integrative Psychotherapist, and as such, I have studied various approaches to counselling and psychotherapy. Integrative Psychotherapy is an approach to psychotherapy in which the therapist draws upon multiple theories and combines these into a coherent, often entirely personalised way of working with patients. The two main approaches I draw upon when working with patients integratively are Humanistic Psychotherapy and Psychodynamic Psychotherapy.

Humanistic Theory

Humanism in psychotherapy refers to a perspective in which each human being is seen as being unique, with a built-in motivation for self-development and personal growth. In humanistic psychotherapy, we will usually focus on your feelings. I will encourage and support you to notice and think about these when they arise in the session or outside of it. This approach is generally non-directive; in other words, I will not usually offer you any advice, but I will more commonly work towards developing our mutual understanding of the issue within the unique context of your personal experience. In addition, I may encourage you to focus on your creative instincts and take responsibility for your thoughts and actions. In this area, I have been mainly influenced by the work of Carl Rogers, Eugene Gendlin, Fritz Perls, and Irvin Yalom.

Psychodynamic Theory

Sigmund Freud initially developed psychodynamic psychotherapy, which has since evolved into a broad, rich set of theoretical and clinical ideas. The principal among these is the concept of making the unconscious conscious. In our work together, I will attempt to bring to your attention specific thoughts, feelings, or behaviours that you may not have been previously aware of to develop greater insight into how you are and relate to others. The development of this insight can lead to a greater sense of control over your own life and the relief of problematic symptoms. Another essential technique within psychodynamic psychotherapy is working with transference. Transference is when you find yourself feeling towards your therapist that echoes your sentiment towards a significant person in your past. I will try to make links between these feelings to discover together the patterns that may keep you bound into repeating past relationship dynamics in the present. Understanding where these patterns of relating to others may come from can increase your ability to respond more freely to others in the present and increase empathy towards yourself. Some critical thinkers in this area who continue to influence my work include John Bowlby, Stephen Mitchell, Susie Orbach, and Peter Fonagy.

Is Integrative Psychotherapy Suitable For Me?

Suppose you seek counselling or psychotherapy adapted to your specific needs and moulded to your personality and goals. In that case, Integrative Psychotherapy could work well for you. It is a gentler form of psychotherapy than Intensive Short Term Dynamic Psychotherapy (ISTDP), the other approach to therapy that I use. It can work well for a wide variety of issues and problems.

How can I book a session?

If you would like to explore further whether this approach could work for you, please request a free 30-minute consultation. I look forward to hearing from you.