About Therapy
No two therapies are alike.
Each of my clients have had their own unique journey to and through therapy.
What has been often shared by many of my clients is a sense of distress or discomfort in their life, which persists over time. This often manifests as a recurring difficult psychological experience, which can take the form of a thought, an emotion, a behaviour, and a physical symptom, and often a combination of those. This experience can be highly specific or ambiguous, as it may be difficult to link it to a specific trigger or to a set circumstances in one's life.
Not all of my clients decide on therapy as a direct result of experiencing distress. Some have a desire and a curiosity to learn more about themselves and develop a richer psychological understanding of themselves. Others want to reflect collaboratively with a mental health professional about their lives to review and gain confidence in their ways of navigating the world.
Regardless of what brings my clients to therapy, I provide them with a therapeutic space which is safe, empathic and keen to learn about their experiences. This enables them to freely express themselves and begin a collaborative reflection and exploration of their lives, and put this into knowledge and words.
The joint therapeutic exploration with my clients touches upon a wide array of aspects and factors in their lives. It covers their experience in the present, the past, and the links between the two. It can also cover their relationship to themselves, to others and to their values, goals, and ambitions, or lack thereof. It can extend to any factor that my clients believe informs their experience, whether it is ethnicity, culture, gender, socio-economic position and sexual identity.
Like any exploration of life’s experiences, challenging and distressing moments may arise. At times from facing past experiences, and other times from facing realisations and insight, and opportunities for change in the here and now. As a therapist I offer support to alleviate the distress associated with these moments, while also jointly thinking how to address these constructively, as these moments often hold vast potential for positive change.
Developing an understanding of the psychological processes and dynamics underlying the distressing aspects in my clients’ lives, enables us to identify areas that they would like to change, and consider what will be feasible in this regard. It also allows us to devise how to facilitate these changes and test these within and outside our sessions. Our ultimate goal is to provide my clients with the tools to reinforce and build on these changes to create a robust long-term change after the completion of therapy, resulting in marked improvement in their psychological wellbeing.
To learn more about my areas of particular expertise and the stages of therapy press their respective links.
To enquire about therapy availability please email me at: Info@DrGuyMaissis.com