Stephanie Bushell

I am trained integratively which means that I have been taught to make use of a number of different approaches to counselling and therapy. I am qualified to work with couples, multi-partnered people, and to work as a psychosexual therapist for sex and sexuality related issues.

The first training I did combined 3 core theoretical approaches - psychodynamic, person-centred and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. Psychodynamic therapy is an approach which aims to help you to understand how your past has impacted the way that you are today. Understanding the 'whys' of your life can help you to have compassion for yourself. This in turn can enable you to make choices that are for your good, instead of ones that might be self destructive. Secondly, psychodynamic therapy seeks to make you more conscious of things that are outside of your awareness, but may nevertheless be having a powerful impact on your life. For example, you may 'find yourself' always having relationships with the same kind of pattern, without fully understanding why. Psychodynamic therapy can help you to become aware of the unconscious motivations that lead you into repeated patterns. This awareness then empowers you to make different choices. All of this is underpinned by a Person Centred approach, also part of my original training. This is a way of working which focusses on your inherent value as a person and the belief that each individual has the internal resources needed to grow. Person Centred counselling has three core conditions at its foundation: Unconditional Positive Regard - my stance of accepting you just as you are, unconditionally and without judgement; Empathic Understanding - my skills in putting myself in your shoes, seeing the world through your eyes and communicating that to you; and Congruence - my authenticity and genuineness. You will be sitting opposite a human being with a beating heart, not a cold professional facade.