Jonathan Breach

A conversation with Jonathan Breach

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

  Being diagnosed with ADHD in my late 40's placed me within a cohort of people re-examining their lives and identities in hindsight, questions arising on how things might have been different with the knowledge earlier in life? This was further compounded by the discovery that the number of support resources for adults diagnosed with Neurodivergence much later in life was severely lacking.
  
  This experience very much facilitated a drive to become the support resource that I couldn't easily find when I was diagnosed, and provide that lived experience support for others.

• Which philosophical approaches have influenced your professional development?

  The non-pathologising humanistic approach of Carl Rogers has been fundamental in my initial Counselling studies and training.
  
  This has been significantly supplemented by the collaborative post-modern philosophical approach of Narrative Practice as developed by the likes of Michael White, David Epston and important First Nations practitioners such as Barbara Wingard - to understand the multiplicity of stories to be uncovered, hidden knowledge of resilience, and the impact of systems of power on the individuals experience.

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

  Human health and wellbeing does not exist in discrete silos. Physical health, psychological health, spiritual health, social & familial health and community health all interlink with each other. All of these need to be understood, their stories documented and appreciated to understand the individual holistically.

• What methods do you use?

  Besides a bedrock of Rogerian person-centered counselling, I utilise Narrative Therapy/Practice, Acceptance & Commitment Therapy (ACT) and Solutions Focused Brief Therapy.

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

  Every client is different. Every challenge is different. Every set of social dynamics around an individual is different. More importantly, the self-identified goals and timeframes for each client are unique.
  
  With so many variables, the subjective experience of a 'shift' can and will vary between clients - this is why it is critical for a counsellor & therapist to be able to explore with the client 'how will you know that something has changed?'

• How has therapy made a difference in your life?

  It would be an unusual therapist never to have had any first hand experience of therapy themselves in some capacity. The mistake is to think that counselling and therapy is just for when times are really difficult. While this is often the trigger, we come to appreciate how therapy can allow us to reflect on how we navigated historic difficult times, and what strengths we have at our disposal for challenging times to come.

• What do you like most about being a therapist?

  What I like most about being a therapist is that every client teaches you something new, every session. It is literally a profession where you will be a better therapist every day that comes, every week, every year - and you will see it happening.

• Do you ever have 'bad hair' days?

  I have been seeing the same barber for nearly 20 years. Five years ago he advised me that at my age, and follicular state, that going with a Number 2 clipper all over would be a wise life decision.
  
  Taking his sage advice, I have not had a bad hair day since!

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

  A globalised society is increasingly falling under the belief that the individual, community and broader society is able to sustain a trajectory of perpetual growth, productivity and affluence. Eventually, the resources will run dry, the bonds of community will strain and the capacity of the individual will be exhausted. And our planet will bear the cost.
  
  The concept of gratitude and contentment with 'enough to meet our needs' is at risk.

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

  Paolo Sorrentino's 2013 film La Grande Bellezza (The Great Beauty) is among the most inspirational movies to make an impact on me. A meditation on the living through advancing age, memories, the allure of superficiality and the search for transcendental beauty in a transient world, it a movie that lives on in the mind long after it is experienced.