Psychosynthesis is a therapeutic modality that is gentle, compassionate and deeply soulful. It helps you to heal and create long term change in your life by offering a therapist who feels like a ‘fellow traveller’, someone who can walk alongside you whilst providing kindness and compassion to the parts of yourself that feel painful or confused.
A beautiful part of this therapy is that it respects the ‘higher’ levels of consciousness just as much as the lower or ‘shadow’. This means that along with healing history, at the same time we are ‘inviting in’ what is emerging for you in this chapter of life. We do this by exploring your longings and imagination, and what it is that makes your body feel fizzy and alive! It is the gentle nurturing of what you are being called towards that creates a sense of hopefulness and possibility.
“What does a ‘soulful approach’ to therapy mean?”
It means that your soul (or spirit) is the guide. The aim is that you are able to connect with the truest essence of yourself, and in my experience, when people explore their true nature with a warm and non-judgemental therapist, they begin to feel not only accepting of the being that they are, but eventually proud, excited and motivated to share more of themselves with the world.
It is through this experience that a busy mind full of self-criticism and unkind self-talk can begin to quieten, enabling you to feel more present, grounded and at ease.
“How do I know what is ‘emerging’ for me?”
You are not expected to know this, it is something that will come to light through gentle and hopeful exploration. As a psychosynthesis therapist, my ear is always ‘attuned’ and listening out for these signals! As you experience being seen and understood, you may begin to feel a sense of more ‘spaciousness’ within yourself, which can help you to feel less distracted and cluttered, with more headspace and a sense of peace.
This space helps you notice more about yourself, which can be super helpful in shaping the direction of your path ahead. This might include your emotions, ideas of possibility, a stirring of intuition, creative nudges from your inner guidance, a deepening connection to nature, clarity on what fills you with joy and excitement, and the projects and direction that might feel purposeful and meaningful to you.
As you begin to notice how you are truly feeling, you will learn how to better meet your own needs, whilst also identifying the areas of life that require change with the support of a therapist. Getting to know yourself more deeply means that you will gradually work out what a truthful expression of your soul will look like in this world. This can be very important for those in a parental role, as their children grow and they can move towards reclaiming their full multifaceted identity outside of care giver.
“How does this type of therapy help me ‘heal history’ or the younger wounded parts of myself?”
There will have been moments in your history where you didn’t feel seen or understood, and so you learned to hide parts of yourself that make you uniquely, colourfully, weirdly, brilliantly YOU. Often, we try so hard to fit into a certain shape that suits our family / environment / society / culture / school / friendship groups / romantic relationship that we lose connection to who we actually are at our core.
By gently revisiting experiences from your history, these hidden ‘parts’ of you receive the dedicated attention, compassion and understanding that they always needed and deserved, and they begin to heal. This helps because these healing parts / wounds / insecurities start to have less of a ‘hold’ on you. This means that they are less likely to hold you back, as they are no longer in the ‘driver’s seat’ when it comes to your instinctive responses or choice-making. This is called ‘getting un-stuck’!
For example….
My client ‘Amy’ talked me through examples of where she had felt neglected by her mother and criticised by her father as a child. This was the first time she had really shared these experiences out loud with another person, and I was moved by her recounting the story. At times I felt emotional, and I didn't try to hide it. I had my hand on my heart as I said to her ‘that must have been really painful. I’m so sorry that happened to you’.
Being ‘seen’ or met in this way helped that younger, wounded part inside ‘Amy’ feel understood, less alone, and valued rather than dismissed, as she had felt as a child. Amy’s face showed relief as she asked ‘so it wasn’t all my fault? I wasn’t treated that way because I had done something wrong?’
After these sessions, Amy described feeling lighter, freer, more present and happier. This change came from letting go of the heavy belief that she had somehow deserved to be treated the way she was in her childhood. She also developed greater awareness of this younger part ‘hi-jacking’ her in an attempt to jump in and protect her. Once she began to notice this was happening, she could pause, kindly ask the young ‘protector’ part to relax, connect to her true feelings in the moment and choose how she actually wanted to respond.
The lasting change was that she could be present for what was actually happening in the moment, rather than making assumptions based on history. She started to communicate her feelings and boundaries more clearly, began to notice more of the beauty that was actually in the moment, and her connection with the people she values began to deepen.
Holding both parts…
For me, it is this ‘holding’ of both parts - the healing of history and nurturing what is emerging for someone - that makes this type of therapy so beautiful, empowering, and truly hopeful.
I have a deep interest in the meeting of spirituality and creativity and how embracing these aspects of self can help make meaning of the past, accept loss, recognise worth beyond cultural scripts ~ and illuminate a true identity that longs to be expressed.
This work matters deeply to me because I want you to live a life that feels true and meaningful to you, so that your relationships thrive, and the energy you share contributes positively to your community and ultimately, the collective.
To read more about the therapy sessions I offer and testimonials from previous clients, click here
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