More about Integrative Psychotherapy

Integrative psychotherapy utilises a range of therapy theories, modalities and techniques which are selectively applied as appropriate. In my own case, I combine 'existential phenomenological' understandings with other models of therapy which includes humanistic and psychodynamic approaches. My primary theoretical framework is developmental and relational. 

Existential phenomenology focuses on age-old questions to do with ourselves and others within our world such as 'who am I?' and 'how do I want to live my life?' and 'what does it mean to be a human being?'  In reflecting on these questions, we can begin to understand our thoughts, emotions, values and what life means to us. We can also begin to appreciate what it is to find ourselves in an embodied existence born into a certain time and culture, and how that ties in with ideas concerning freedom, choice and responsibility.

The developmental-relational approach highlights the significance of early infant-caregiver relationships and their impact of subsequent relationships.  Integrative psychotherapists believe that a person's early experience influences their later relationships: there is a tendency to repeat history, patterns and ways of relating.  As people grow into adults, they find ways of coping and containing their distress in habitual ways - these become what could be called our 'scripts'. People then resist change, preferring instead to stick to familiar scripts as they offer security and because scripts have often been reasonably useful/successful up till now. However, sometimes people feel the urge or need to find a new way of being in their lives and new ways of coping with their relationships.  Old ways of being may themselves be getting in the way of progress and feeling satisfied with current life. Therapy can play a role here in helping people understand their past and present in order to re-shape the future.

The integrative psychotherapist helps clients along the path of discovering who they are bringing together all their complicated emotions, needs and life circumstances. The focus of therapy is on how the clients relate to others in their world, how they cope generally and whether there are better ways to live more meaningful, satisfying lives.