Conversational Psychotherapy
What Is Conversational Psychotherapy?
My training and work as a therapist has always drawn on a wide range of approaches. Conversational Psychotherapy integrates many of these different strands into one coherent, flexible framework. It’s especially good for ensuring that your changes in therapy will ‘stick’, and that you leave with a strong, confident and resilient sense of self.
Conversational Psychotherapy is one of the best validated approaches to therapy. It combines aspects of neuroscience, developmental psychology and trauma-theory, as well as drawing from other disciplines such as linguistics.
Despite its name, this way of working is not an ‘everyday chat’. It will involve us taking both a wider-than-usual perspective on your life, and also conducting a more forensic examination of the details. But the overall aim is for our conversations to feel comfortable and approachable, as we work towards the changes you wish to see in your life and yourself.
Who Can It Help?
Conversational Psychotherapy is effective for a very wide range of people and problems. The focus is always on attuning to your unique story and situation.
This way of working is recognised as one of the most effective ways to integrate and transform the effects of trauma.
It has been shown to be particularly helpful in working with depression, anxiety, self-harm, low self-esteem, PTSD and Complex PTSD.
And it’s one of the few approaches known to ease persistent relational difficulties, such as those faced in ‘borderline personality disorder’ (or ‘emotionally unstable personality disorder’).
How Does It Work?
Conversational Psychotherapy uses the relationship between therapist and client, and the shared language we find to describe your inner and outer life, to find the best way forwards for you.
Whether we have six sessions together or sixty, our work is likely to cover:
1. Investigating and Understanding
We will look together at what you’re facing, how it’s affecting different areas of your life, and what you might like to be different. We’ll get curious about your life-patterns, your coping strategies, and your habits of thought – so we can start to make sense of where you are. We may also attend to more unusual aspects of your experience, such as your internal sensations or your dreams, which may hold significant information to help you move forwards. It’s really important at this stage for us to attune, gently, to what is hidden or subtle or hesitant in you; to make space for every part of you to show up. Sometimes the things you thought were most inconsequential or even shameful turn out to be ‘diamonds in the dust’ when it comes to change.
2. Exploring, Observing, and ‘Life Testing’
This is when we begin to make our way forwards, trying out new paths and seeing how they ‘fit’ with you. As you start to test out new ways of being in the world, we’ll notice carefully how things affect you on a practical, physical and emotional level. We may take unexpected turns as new information emerges. We’ll identify and engage your existing resources, challenge old habits where appropriate, and look at new tools for problem-solving where necessary. And as we progress, we will take time to observe, reflect, and deepen our understanding, at whatever pace is right for you.
3. Consolidating and Ending
At a certain point, it will become clear that you are nearly ready to move forwards on your own. But preparation is crucial. Taking time to fully integrate your changes makes them far more likely to stick, in the long term. So we will fine-tune and strengthen your new sense of self, and make sure it’s comfortably embedded in your daily life. We’ll review what you’ve achieved, look at how you might cope with any future difficulties, and consider what you might be taking away to continue working on by yourself. And we will ensure you leave feeling confident and resilient for whatever the future may bring.
Want to get a more in-depth feel for what therapy with me might be like?
How Long Will It Take?
Conversational Psychotherapy can last just a handful of sessions, or it can continue for several months, or even years.
How long it takes will depend partly on what brings you to therapy. If you are seeking focused help with one particular issue, or support through a period of crisis or upheaval, then our work together may be quite brief. If we need to look in-depth at the root causes of long-term behavioural patterns, and work towards changing them, that’s likely to take longer.
It also depends on you. For example, what is a comfortable pace for you on this kind of internal journey? Is there part of you which is hesitant about unpacking things, or about change? Do you have a wide range of supports and resources available in your life, or are you unsupported or even discouraged by others?
I am trained to work both short-term and long-term. Around half of the people I work with achieve what they want from therapy in under 20 sessions; others find it useful to undertake a longer journey. I will meet your individual needs so that our work is never rushed, but also doesn’t drag on for longer than required.
How Do We Start?
Trying to untangle a life and find the right way forwards can be complex… but my experience with Conversational Psychotherapy has shown me that it is always possible. Whatever your story, wherever you find yourself now, you really can achieve significant and lasting change.
Your most important task, then, is to find the courage to begin – to book a first session, and start talking. From there on it will be a joint endeavour.
“I have really appreciated the time and space, free of distractions, but more importantly the accepting nature Sarah has shown me, the ease I have felt in discussing topics with her and the encouragement I have experienced in moving forwards. I could not recommend Sarah highly enough!”
Feedback from a client