Psychotherapy in nature with Ste Brock
What is psychotherapy and how could it help me?
People seek out a therapist for many reasons, for some it’s to ease the burden of anxiety, depression and symptoms of trauma. You don’t have to be broken to benefit from therapy, and some people a drawn to it in order to understand themselves better and to increase the quality of their relationships, personal agency freedom.
Psychotherapy is a way to look in detail at how you think and feel in relation to the world. This is done in the form of a dialogue, sometimes with words, sometimes without, each input building on the last to create a picture of how you move through life. With a greater understanding of yourself comes choices; shall I keep this way of doing things or change it?
About me and how I work
I am UKCP registered psychotherapist in advanced training (registration number 2011191113) and a member of Scarborough Counselling and Psychotherapy Training Institute (SCPTI).
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Psychotherapy has several 'modalities', each with their own slightly different styles and underpinning theories. Within each modality, each individual therapist will do things slightly differently, so it's important to choose a therapist with a flavour that suits you. My work is underpinned by the 'Gestalt' modality, and I find this works really well indoors or outdoors. I work holistically, which means I wouldn't draw a hard line between a psychological issue and a physical one, instead I would consider both as potentially providing valuable information. Although I do make notes at the end of a session, I don't follow a 'script'. As our dialogue unfolds, the themes that need to be looked at will emerge when you're ready and feel safe enough to look at them. Sometimes words are not sufficient to explore an issue fully, so I might suggest we try something and see how it feels. If it works for you, we can find alternative ways to express yourself such as metaphor, movement or pictures. I work relationally, which means I bring myself into our dialogue, and I might occasionally share what I am thinking and how I'm feeling, and how that might interact with your processes. Most of all I don't judge, I meet you exactly where you are, with the feelings you're feeling right now.
How the sessions work
Sessions take place either outdoors, in a therapy room in Skipton, or online. During an outdoor session, most clients prefer to walk as we talk. There are no strict rules however, and if we want to stop and sit for a while, there is nothing stopping us. I’ve got a few locations that I know well where we can meet and start the session, so all this will be agreed beforehand. If outdoors doesn’t work for you on a particular day (because of inclement weather forecast for instance) we can arrange to work online instead. It's important you find a therapist you can feel comfortable with, so I offer an initial no cost 30m online conversation to see if we are a good match to work together. Most people find therapy works best with regular weekly sessions, but I can work more flexibly with a schedule of sessions that works for both of us. Sessions are usually 1 hour long and can be booked via email.