Jul 7, 2023
Stuart Nevill
Jul 7, 2023
I was a Buddhist monk in the 90s and met quite a few Buddhist therapists. Then, in a remote mountain hermitage, I came across a book by Carl Jung, Symbols of the Unconscious. It blew my mind!
I've made a video to share my thoughts around Buddhism and psychoanalytic therapy here:
I trained at The Arbours, a London-based training with roots in the anti-psychiatry movement headed by RD Laing. My training was in the British Psychoanalytic Tradition.
Psychoanalytic psychotherapy involves an exploration of unconscious aspects of our lives: why we behave in ways we don't understand; why we feel anxiety; why we long for something we can't articulate; why we repeat certain types of behaviour or find ourselves repeatedly in similar situations.
The psychoanalytic approach also often involves talking about aspects of the relationship between client and therapist, as a tool for positive change.
Psychoanalytic psychotherapy is about opening up to a new thought, getting unstuck, personal change, making something that was unconscious, conscious. It's about re-finding ourselves, within familiar situations that feel maddening, external, bizarre, or unfair.
By talking about experiences that have been kept secret, or out of mind, we grow and develop new capacity to cope with difficulties and realise who we are and what we want.
I see adults of all ages and from a variety of backgrounds. Anxiety is a common experience, along with depressive feelings. In my experience, most people who come to therapy want someone on their side to help them understand what they are going through.
I have noticed an increase in clients talking about imposter syndrome and being affected personally by social issues such as discrimination and the abuse of power.
I find 'being' with my clients is a nourishing and energising experience.
When I'm under the weather and/or my own tiredness impacts on sessions.
I'm quite new to Welldoing, but I'm impressed by the community support and CPD.
If asked, I've recommended In Therapy by Susie Orbach, and The Examined Life by Stephen Grosz. They are accessible and give a good sense for the therapeutic process.
Get outdoors, exercise and find other opportunities not to think. I talk about my own difficulties.
I read about psychoanalysis and related fields including philosophy and critical theory.
I work with a wide variety of people. I offer concessionary rates, so I can work with people on lower incomes. I enjoy the variety and it feels important ethically that therapy is accessible.
I work online and I also hire consulting rooms, which are very nicely decorated, quiet and feel containing.
That therapy is about personal development, not just a treatment of a mental health symptom.
Everyone experiences anxiety and depression at times.
It's important, but not pleasant, to have our fantasies frustrated.
Stuart Nevill