Brigitte Haston

Can therapy help-   Perhaps you are experiencing anxiety or depression, or you may have gone through a life event that has set you adrift.  You may be in pain or you may be curious to look deeper within yourself and work out the jigsaw that is “you”.   I believe that loss is central to many of our issues. It can be loss in the most extreme way through bereavement but it may also be loss in a more general way : the loss of our identity or purpose.  I help my clients to adjust to change - indeed to see change as inevitable and to embrace the growth opportunities it presents.   My approach to therapy   If we were to engage in a counselling relationship – what would that mean-  We are two people, two souls, in a room who have come together in a therapeutic setting.  I bear witness to your story, explore it with you with perspective and no judgement and help you hold it.   My training has at its core a person centred philosophy, which means that I listen without judgement and believe that every person has the ability to grow. Together we will strive to find the answers that you hold within yourself.   I am informed by psychodynamic thinking which enables me to place your present experience and activities within the background of your early formative years and raise awareness of repeated relationship patterns. I am trained in cognitive behavioural therapy CBT which gives me tools to help you link emotions, thoughts and actions with a view to effecting change.   About me   I am trained as an integrative psychotherapist : I believe that clients themselves are constantly evolving and adapting, feeding from past experience and present stimulation. Clients regularly tell me that after counselling they live with greater authenticity, taking full ownership of their actions and greater confidence in their choices.   In addition to seeing clients privately, I have been working at a large GP practice in SW London for a number of years, seeing clients referred to me by their GP for a variety of issues. I have also worked at an Academy school as a sixth form counsellor which has given me experience working with young adults in this transitional stage of their life.  I have a particular interest in helping young adults to develop coping mechanisms to deal with the pressures of school, university and working life.   Prior to becoming a psychotherapist I worked in the business world of corporate public relations which helped me understand the wish for a focused solution driven approach. I believe in co-creating goals with my clients and reviewing them at regular intervals. I offer both short-term therapy 6-12 sessions and longer term therapy 13-30 sessions .