Hilda Burke Integrative psychotherapist , W12

I am an Integrative Psychotherapist and trained couples therapist with over 7 years experience working with clients. Integrative therapy is, I believe, one of the most effective forms of counselling. Its strategies can be found in every successful form of therapy. The philosophical stance of this approach is that there is no single approach to psychological intervention that is suitable for every client; each person is unique and distinctive, which means that one-size fits all approaches to therapy will not be effective.

Coming to the first therapy session can seem very daunting. I know – I’ve been there! Not having a clue what to expect, whether you’re going to get pulled apart, your secrets unearthed....

I try to work gently with my clients, leaving them time to get comfortable and unfurl. The first step is to develop trust in the working relationship between us. Without that, therapy really cannot go very far. From here, we can start to explore what’s not working in the client’s life, the areas that are causing anxiety or disruption and to look at how they might like to change things.

Clues can often be found in our history, the way we’ve been brought up, the events that have shaped us. While I believe that the present is the only place we can really focus our energies, if the past is shaping and affecting our present adversely then it needs to be addressed.

I believe that the expert on you is.. you! So why go to a therapist? Well, sometimes our own insight, our own intuition gets clouded over the years. Whether that’s through parental voices, our peers, our teachers, our friends or partners who all have their own different agendas on how we should be, our wisdom about ourselves can sometimes go awry. My aim is to help you clear the obstacles to enable you be able to listen to yourself, to be true to yourself and fully authentic. The ultimate goal of therapy is to facilitate you to become your own therapist!