Psychotherapists and Counsellors Answer your Questions

My professional development has been shaped by a blend of relational, humanistic, psychoanalytic and Jungian philosophical approaches, all held together by Transactional Analysis as a core organising...

My professional development has been shaped by a blend of relational, humanistic, psychoanalytic and Jungian philosophical approaches, all held together by Transactional Analysis as a core organising framework. Transactional Analysis has given me a way of understanding human behaviour that is both structurally rigorous and deeply humane: its emphasis on ego states, scripts and games speaks to how early relational experience becomes organised into patterns that repeat across the lifespan. It also carries a strong ethical and philosophical commitment to autonomy, awareness and responsibility, values that align closely with my own. Relational and contemporary psychoanalytic thinking have further influenced me, particularly ideas about the co-created nature of the therapeutic relationship, enactment, and the use of countertransference as a source of clinical understanding. I am interested in how the field between therapist and client reveals unconscious patterns and offers possibilities for change. Jungian and neo-Jungian ideas have become increasingly central in the second half of my professional life. Concepts such as individuation, symbol, archetype and the reality of the unconscious inform my sense that therapy is not only about symptom reduction but about meaning, wholeness and a more conscious relationship to one’s inner life. Humanistic and existential perspectives also matter to me: a belief in the person’s inherent worth, the importance of lived experience, and the ongoing task of making meaning in the face of limitation, suffering and choice. Across all of these influences, I remain interested in disciplined care, depth work and the complex, often paradoxical nature of being human.