Rachael Watson

I believe that curiosity is an essential ingredient of good therapy and becomes possible within the empathy and support of a psychotherapeutic relationship. With curiosity it’s possible for us to enquire further into personal experience, deepening and developing relationships with self and others. Sometimes it’s in being listened to by someone else that we hear ourselves in a new and transformative way. The path opens to finding new and creative solutions for inner conflicts or voicing what we’ve never dared give voice to before.  Some people may know what’s wrong and want to work out what to do about it. Others may wish to be accompanied through profound and painful experiences of loss that feel life changing and deeply challenging. Others may feel stuck, dissatisfied or purposeless in life but find themselves unsure why this is happening and how to recover their “spark”. Some simply a sense that there is more to life and want to develop themselves. Witnessing clients accepting their reality, recovering their energy and starting to grow again as patterns and ways of being begin to shift is just one way in which I hope to help my clients feel seen, heard and understood.  I have supported clients through bereavement, chronic illness, neurodiversity, anxiety, depression, family and relationship difficulties, becoming and being a parent, issues related to race, culture, ageing, gender and sexuality, OCD, addictions, workplace stress, and PTSD related to abuse or distinct life events. I work with my clients to establish whether what they are bringing is best addressed through shorter-term solution focused therapy with an agreed end date, or an open-ended therapy with the scope for deeper exploration of what has brought them. As a member of both the UKCP and BACP, I practice in accordance with their codes of ethics, including the commitment to broaden my own experience and understanding of the therapeutic process through regular CPD and supervision.  I keep a couple of spaces in my practice for clients who pay what is affordable for them. This means there can be a waiting list for these spaces. Please let me know if you'd like to work with me on this basis when you get in touch so that I can let you know if I'm available or not.