My approach is very much influenced by collaborative, narrative and dialogical therapies, although I will often incorporate techniques from solution-focused and structural therapy

Like most systemic therapists, I tend to regard the ethical position I take in relationship to clients as being of high importance; this a position of collaboration rather than one of expertise.

Unlike therapies like Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), which tend to locate the problem ‘inside’ the person, systemic approaches think of the problem as being relational.  For example, is someone is labelled as depressed, I would tend to think of the person (and their family) having a fluid, changing relationship with depression, rather than the depression being something fixed and inside the person.

A typical first session would usually involve discussing your family and important relationships in your life, perhaps moving on to look at patterns or stories that might emerge from this discussion and exploring which ones are more or less dominant in your life.

I endeavour to work as briefly as possible with clients, depending on the particular issues that are brought to therapy; sometimes people wish to work on a specific issue, other clients prefer to work on more general aspects of their lives. Sessions normally last for one hour, and intervals between appointments are negotiated according to need.