About Psychotherapy | Alex Sherley Therapy

What can I expect from counselling or therapy?

What is counselling/psychotherapy?

There are many approaches to psychotherapy and many types of psychotherapist. What should be true in all therapy or counselling is that client and therapist are able to form a good working relationship where you feel safe enough to be able to discuss openly what is troubling you. The weekly 50 minutes is a space to be curious about yourself - but with someone alongside you who listens carefully and actively, and is non-judgemental, professional and impartial.

A counsellor or therapist does not offer advice, tips or solutions but does offer the support to identify and understand the underlying nature of emotional difficulties. This understanding of ourselves and our relationships with others can be very empowering and help to effect positive change.

Open-ended and time-limited counselling

People seek counselling for a range of reasons, some which may feel longstanding and some which may feel more immediate and provoked by a change in their circumstances. Open-ended therapy can give us the opportunity to explore issues in a bit more depth, whereas a time-limited block of 6 to 12 weeks may be more suitable for people who want to focus in on how a specific issue is affecting them at the moment. Whether time-limited or open-ended, sessions will always be at your own pace.

How can therapy help me?

Your therapy slot is yours every week and is a chance to put aside everyone else and focus on you. It is a chance to express thoughts and feelings that might be difficult to do elsewhere, and to process issues with someone who has the appropriate training and skills to really hear you.

For testimonials and stories of how therapy can help, see BACP's client blog, which they call 'It Changed My Life'.

My Approach

Psychodynamic psychotherapy is particularly interested in how our childhood experiences, past relationships and emotional development affect our present lives. It aims to help us gain more understanding about these connections, and to provide a space to voice the feelings that may be provoked.

This doesn't mean that the present gets ignored. As well as recognising the importance of an empathetic and safe therapeutic environment, my approach involves listening out for the unconscious dynamics that exist in all our interactions, as and when they come up in therapy. Paying attention to what is happening in the here-and-now can provide useful insights about our patterns of behaviour and how we relate to others.

I am also especially interested in how social and real world factors impact upon our lives and mental health.

I work with all clients not only to understand and really hear their individual experiences, but also to promote growth and resilience and living more fully.

I have completed additional training in the NHS-licensed approach, Person-Centred Experiential Counselling for Depression, which also informs my practice.

My Approach