10 Questions with Andrew Lindsay

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

• I was practicing Chinese Medicine and became really interested in talking with people about how they were going in their lives. Then I went to some workshops connecting mind and body to psychotherapy and I was hooked. I loved the experiential way of working and integrating mind and body experiences – it felt very satisfying and natural and that I had come home.

• Which philosophical approaches have influenced your professional/personal development?

• I would say three main philosophies: Daoism from the point of view following what is naturally happening and discovering how it is somehow right or has meaning if unfolded with awareness; Empirical science as far as critically observing and following people’s feedback in the moment; and Social Justice in regard to human rights and wellbeing.

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

• Fundamentally I’m interested in human spirit. I think we all have a private self from which our deeper yearnings and dreams spring. Part of the human condition it seems is to struggle with actualising this deeper part of ourselves in some way that works with our social constraints and obligations. This is a big challenge but there is a tremendous sense of integrity and Selfhood that comes with meeting it in my experience, both personally, and with clients.

• What method/s do you use?

• Process Oriented Psychology or Process Work has been my main training and influence. They were the workshops I mention in Q1. Process Work’s experiential and multimodal approach, integrating body and movement, opens up a wonderful sense of freedom and creativity. More recently I am appreciating some aspects of CBT and ACT. I have also become very interested in relationship work. Relationships seem to me to be such a big and important part of our lives and wellbeing.

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

• I think most people have a subjective experience or knowing whether something is overall going well or doing them good. I also help clients identify their goals and they get a sense of progress when they’re meeting these goals and/or feeling better within themselves and about their lives.

• How has therapy made you a better person?

• I continue with personal psychotherapy and professional supervision which I have had for over 20 years. In this way I can say I practice what I preach and it helps me stay in touch with the core benefits I am delivering to my clients. I think this is essential and comes back to the human spirit – tapping into the spirit in all of us and helping people find expression and actualisation of what’s deeply important to them within their various living constraints.
  
  I used to love freedom and hate constraints and limits. Now I have more appreciation for the wrestle. I think it brings out our creativity and helps us discover ourselves and others. So I would add self-knowledge in there as well – the old adage – ‘know thy self’ – it’s a good place to start.

• What do you like most about being a therapist?

• I get to meet people and have amazing and real conversations with them. To be let into people’s lives and how things are going ‘offstage’ is such a rich and humbling experience. There’s part of me that never tires of this. Then there’s the breakthrough’s, insights, hard won achievements and celebrations.

• Do you ever have 'bad hair' days?

• I keep my hair no longer then 1cm for this reason! Yes, of course, but I think it’s not about not having them. Mostly these days I can remember it is ok to have them and I don’t have to hide it. Usually it’s relieving to share or just quietly accept. I think being effective in your life and work doesn’t mean doing everything perfectly, quite the opposite sometimes.

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

• I think it is relationships – getting on with each other. Globalisation and technology means our lives are in some ways more interwoven than ever. Yet paradoxically we are also experiencing more social alienation – go figure! Well partly I think it’s because relationships are hard work if you want to get beyond just superficial compromise and tolerance. Most of us crave connection and intimacy but don’t know how to handle differences and conflict. Unfortunately or fortunately they go hand in hand.

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

• I love Leonard Cohen. There’s a man who’s explored his limits and wrestled with actualising his spirit. Recently I watched ‘Where the Wild Things Are’ with my kids. It’s all there in that film – relationships, trying to follow your spirit, constraints and obligations, connection and intimacy. It’s imperfect but it’s authentic.