Ask a Therapist

Do I have favourite clients? Well, I only really work with people who I like, but amongst that group, I'm sure that there must be some clients I like working with more than others. It might not be for the reasons that you might think. They may not be the person who, kind of, if we met in different circumstances I would want to go out for a drink with or something like that.

I guess the main determinant is someone who's got a big problem and where we're making a lot of progress. I love getting stuck into the deep dark emotional stuff and helping it move. So, you know, a favourite client's probably got to have enough deep dark emotional stuff and be ready, willing, and able to work kind of well with me as a team so that together we can move through it I guess, as quickly as possible.

Some of the techniques that I use are a bit unusual and so one of the determinants is probably having an open-minded so that I can feel comfortable really tuning in to my empathic felt sense and feel that I’m working at my best in that respect. I love working with people who are really motivated to change and willing to do what it takes to make that change. Therapy is a process of discovery and when we take the covers off we’re unlikely to find something really pleasant there, so having a degree of courage to really allow emotions to come to the surface express them is something that I admire greatly.

And finally, I guess having a good sense of humour, because serious therapy doesn’t have to be sombre.