What methods or techniques will you use?

I genuinely believe that you are the expert when it comes to your own life. The way I see it, using methods or techniques on you wouldn’t honour your agency and your own inner potential for change. What I will try to do instead is create the conditions for your potential to flourish organically; for you to understand yourself better and lead your life your way. I believe there is nothing ‘wrong’ with you that needs ‘fixing’ and that your potential will naturally flourish when given the opportunity. When this starts happening in therapy, it can make you feel empowered to make the changes you need in your life.

So what will you actually do?

I will create the space that will allow you to talk freely and connect with yourself, and this is mostly about what I won’t do. I won’t judge you, have expectations from you or try to direct you. Neither will I put on the facade of an ‘expert’ who knows who you are or what you need better than you do. I will turn up as myself and try to genuinely understand what is happening to you and how you see things. I will be there with you while thoughts and feelings come up, welcoming them all without judgement. I will hold them all. As your feelings and thoughts cease to be your enemies, there is often great relief and you can start to get more in touch with parts of yourself that might have been overlooked or not allowed to be expressed.

Couldn’t my partner/friend/relative do that for me?

There are a number of things that make this type of relationship unique:

• The fact that I am not part of your everyday life minimises the fear of consequences, which can feel freeing.

• No pre-existing relationship dynamics means that there are no expectations or already-formed ‘blocks’ between us.

• Confidentiality means you can feel safe to share freely.

• When listening, people naturally react in ways that are informed by their own feelings and thoughts. I have been trained to become aware of those in me and deal with them in a way that respects and values your individual way of being. I will strive to be as true as I can to both myself and you, and to enter your world with all my empathy. For me, this way of being and relating is what makes the therapeutic relationship special.

OK, but it still all feels a bit abstract. Can you give me an example?

I would love to but I prefer the example to be based on your own unique experience. I encourage you to book a free 20-minute call so you can tell me a bit about what brings you to therapy and we can discuss how I can help based on that.

I see therapy as an unwritten story that is waiting to be written by you. This is its challenge but also its gift.

What kinds of issues do you specialise in?

I specialise in connecting with the human being behind the presenting issue, no matter what that issue might be.

How long will therapy take?

There is no way to know this in advance and you will decide to stop when you feel it is time. I have had the honour to witness people surprising themselves with profound realisations and transformation along a variety of periods of time, from very short to very long.

Is this your personal approach to therapy?

This is one of the most influential approaches in counselling and psychotherapy; it’s called the person-centred approach and was introduced by Carl Rogers in the 1950s. I tried to describe it the way I experience it, staying away from jargon. It gives me great fulfilment to be able to work in a way that is so aligned with my personal values and philosophy.

Just one last thing. What does being a member of the BACP mean?

The BACP is the UK’s largest professional body for the counselling professions. Being a member guarantees that I have gone through rigorous training, my practice is supervised regularly, I pursue continuous development and, most importantly, I am committed to working in accordance with the BACP Ethical Framework. If you have any further questions regarding this, please reach out and I will be happy to answer.

I hope I have answered some of your questions here and I look forward to meeting you and hearing what is going on for you. If you are thinking of giving this a chance, send me a message and we can take it from there.

I hope to hear from you soon,

Meropi