person-centred

Person-centred therapy is a humanistic approach that centres the person of the client and the ways in which they perceive and experience themselves. The therapeutic relationship is central to the client’s progress. It is founded in dignity, respect and compassion for the client as the expert in their own life. The genuine attitudes of congruence, unconditional positive regard and empathy are used which means that clients are accepted as they are, for who they are, and with what is presently of concern.

“Being empathetic is seeing the world through the eyes of the other, not seeing your world reflected in their eyes.”

- Carl Rogers

narrative therapy

Narrative therapy is an approach that separates the person from their identified problem and situates them as the expert in their own life. This allows for the client to externalise their concerns rather than internalise them. It empowers the client to de-identify with the problem and re-associate with the many parts of themselves that carry the private and public stories of their life through processes of re-authoring and re-membering. Narrative invites the power of growth through the client owning their own voice and story.

“It is the story of self narrative that determines the shape of the expression of our lived experience.”

- Michael White

eMDR & AF-EMDR

EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) is a psychotherapy that enables people to heal from the symptoms and emotional distress that are the result of disturbing life experiences. This is done through bilateral stimulation and an 8 phase treatment protocol.

Just like standard EMDR, Attachment-Focused EMDR works on difficult, distressing memories using bilateral stimulation with the added intention to heal relational trauma. In AF-EMDR, the focus is on early life attachment wounds. This process explores memories that occurred much earlier in life and which serve as feeder memories to later PTSD, CPTSD, anxieties or reactive symptoms later in life.

“Relational trauma is trauma that occurs in the context of a relationship - something that either happened or or did not happen (ie: neglect) to the client that has caused him or her harm.”

- Laurel Parnell

integrative therapy

Integrative therapy is a model that incorporates different kinds of methodologies to tailor the therapy to the client. This means there may be several different techniques used in an individual session. It is a unifying psychotherapy that refers to integrating disowned, unaware or unresolved aspects of the self in a process of making whole. This includes EMDR, AF-EMDR, IFS and Parts Work, Existential, Holistic, Psychodynamic, Interpersonal, Relational, Dialectical Behaviour Therapy, Strengths-Based, Emotions-Focused and any of the therapies listed in this section.

“Each person is a unique individual. Hence, psychotherapy should be formulated to meet the uniqueness of the individual’s needs.”

- Milton Erickson

Somatic THERAPy

Somatic therapy addresses areas of trauma, anxiety, depression, stress, dissociation, symptoms, and addictions. It is a combination of talk therapy and physical attunement to the responses of the body. It focuses on how past experiences affect the central nervous system creating changes in body, body language, communication, physical symptoms, pain and illness. It develops mind-body connection through interventions that release emotions and empower the client.

“The body remembers everything. The information it carries goes back to the beginning of existence.”

- Jaggi Vasudev

Trauma-informed

A Trauma-Informed Approach integrates a thorough knowledge of the impact of trauma on a person into every aspect of the therapy. The five guiding principles of this approach are safety, trustworthiness, choice, collaboration and empowerment. These are deepened by an understanding of the roots of trauma in culture, families, daily lives, embodied and relational brains and the hope of healing through cultivating therapeutic conditions for deep recovery. Emotional, physical and psychological safety is prioritised in this strengths-based framework.

“Trauma is not what happens to us, but what we hold inside us in the absence of an empathetic witness.”

- Peter Levine