Womanhood

I practice therapy as a political act, how could it not be when we are challenging assumptions about ourself to arrive at a place of knowing ‘I am enough, I always have been’? Think of it as a personal act of insurgency, claiming the right to be, to take up space, just as you are.

The empowerment at the heart of the therapeutic relationship helps us to tell our story in our words, not the words of others. It allows for the multitude of emotions which tumble from this, anger, grief, hurt, hope … and the realisations which inevitably follow. The injustices, the couldn’t be any other wayness, and the behaviours and patterns of relating which arose from them all need to be understood and grieved to be let go. This makes way for choices and space to be a you which is not branded by your history.

We all to some extent have a gendered experience of ourselves, be that a cis-gendered one, a non-binary questioning of one, or a path to fighting for one that fits. We step forth into life with the relational learning of our family shaping us, into our societies and cultures which further enforce a particular version of us in expected gendered roles. Our discussions will also consider these social determinants and their impact on our well being or otherwise. Marginalisation; discrimination; all cement and impose rules, norms and roles on us. No more so in our current climate where key political players have normalised hate and hate speech. These can lead to complicated relationships with our body and sexuality, may lead us to limit ourself, feel fearful, angry or despondent, to make ourself small, to not ask for much.

How I work with you

As a relational psychotherapist I am interested in the alchemy of what emerges in exploring some of these themes in both our sameness and our difference. Always holding curiosity to knowing and understanding something which is not part of my lived experience or conversely not assuming I know because something feels familiar to my own experience.

Curiosity is central to the possibility of exploring the nuance of what we know and allowing space for what we don’t yet know to emerge. Looking from a different angle, finding acceptance and being really seen in that which unites us, and in our difference can be deeply healing.