Amelia Ducker

A conversation with Amelia Ducker

• What led you to choose psychotherapy or counselling as a profession?

  A series of life experiences followed by some nudges drew me towards training in Psychotherapy. And I'm so glad I followed the nudges, as I've found it to be a rich and meaningful profession.
  I really enjoy getting to meet life at its most honest, and assisting others in finding meaning, and a deeper connection to themselves and life.

• Which philosophical approaches have influenced your professional development?

  I have been influenced by a number of philosophical approaches and frameworks. Humanistic and existential perspectives have provided me with a foundation in terms of thinking and engaging with clients. Moving through my own Jungian analysis has also opened the doors to an inner symbolic life and an understanding of the transformative potential of working with the unconscious.
  Some of my favorite thinkers are Jung, Marie Louise Von Franz, James Hollis & Robert A Jordan, Irvin Yalom, Victor Frankl.

• Which particular aspects of health or the human journey are you interested in?

  I am interested in clients locating their own inner compass, possibly discovering, or recovering lost or forgotten aspects of themselves, and witnessing clients find a deeper sense of meaning and engagement with life.

• What methods do you use?

  I primarily work from a Humanistic Person Centred framework, which means that the work is client led.
  I work responsively to the clients concerns and presenting issues and can draw on methods such as ACT & Focussing, Image work via Art Therapy and Dream work.
  The therapy is ultimately client-led and responsive to the needs of each individual client.
  
  

• When do you think the client will start to feel that progress is being made?

  This is likely to be different for every client. For one client, change might look like the cultivation of more self-awareness & self-acceptance. For another client it might look like the ability to move towards more uncomfortable emotions, so that they can be processed and integrated. When clients start to listen to themselves in a new way, that’s a sure sign that a change process is in motion.

• How has therapy made a difference in your life?

  Therapy has made a fundamental difference to my own life. I also feel that my experience in the client chair has cultivated a valuing and trust for the therapeutic process and appreciation for the work.

• What do you like most about being a therapist?

  There is always more to learn, understand, and reflect on.
  
  I also like that there is never a place of arrival in this profession- just an ongoing commitment to the path of process.
  
  I also love to watch clients cultivate their own dedication and commitment to their own personal healing journey's. It takes courage! And it's a privilege to witness.
  

• Do you ever have 'bad hair' days?

  Yes I do. And I assume that I always will have bad hair days.

• What do you think is the most significant problem we face, in the world today?

  There are too many to list!

• Can you share the name of a book, film, song, event or work of art that inspires you?

  I love the film work of Wim Wendes (Wings of Desire, Perfect Days, Paris Texas).
  The music of Nick Drake, Andrew Bird & Adrienne Lenker
  Memories, Dreams, Reflections, The Way of the Dream - amazing reads
  I also really enjoy Nick Cave's The Red Hand Files