Gestalt

Gestalt psychotherapy could be characterised by these key points:

• Live in the 'now'
• Live in the 'here' the immediate situation
• Lean towards accepting yourself as you are
• See your environment and interact with it as it is , not as you wish it to be
• Cultivate honesty with yourself
• Express yourself in term of what you feel, want,think rather than manipulate self or others through rationalizations, expectations , judgements and distortions
• Aspire to express in full the complete range of emotions , both pleasant and unpleasant
• Be willing to experiment, to encounter new situations
• Be open to change and growth

​
As a therapeutic approach it places emphasis on gaining awareness of the present moment and the present context. Through therapy, people learn to discover feelings that may have been suppressed or masked by other feelings and to accept and trust their emotions


Couples/Relationships

I work  combining Gestalt  and EFT (Emotionally Focused Therapy) as these two approaches really encourage the couples/relationships to move past stuck and sticky relational  fixed 'dances'.
 Couples' Therapy is having the opportunity to really slow down , unpick ways in which people have been 'missing' one another and learn new, more adaptive ways of relating to each other.

To listen is to lean in, softly, with a willingness to be changed by what we hear.
Mark Nepo

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy/ Compassion Focused Psychotherapy

I incorporate third-wave cognitive behavioural approaches into my clinical practice, including Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and compassion focused  psychotherapy (CFT). These evidence-based approaches provide structured therapeutic tools and emphasise the development of psychological flexibility, emotional regulation, and compassion. They support clients in examining life difficulties from multiple perspectives, fostering more adaptive responses characterised by increased self-kindness, emotional agility, and values-informed action.​

EMDR
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is an evidence-based psychotherapeutic approach developed by Dr Francine Shapiro in 1987 and is widely recognised for its effectiveness in the treatment of trauma-related psychological difficulties. It is particularly well established in working with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and complex trauma.
In my clinical practice, I work with EMDR with adults and adolescents presenting with trauma-related symptoms, as well as with clients whose difficulties are linked to cumulative stress, adverse life experiences, and attachment-related patterns rather than a single traumatic event. In line with current clinical practice, I also use EMDR in the treatment of non-trauma-specific presentations, including panic disorder, phobias, performance anxiety, self-esteem difficulties, and broader anxiety-related conditions.
My use of EMDR is grounded in an integrative and relational framework, with careful attention to assessment, stabilisation, pacing, and client readiness. This ensures that EMDR is applied in a safe, ethical, and clinically robust way, tailored to each individual’s psychological, developmental, and cultural context.
​
These short clips give a brief introduction to EMDR:

May all that is unforgiven in you be released
May your fears yield their deepest tranquilities
May all that is unlived in you blossom into a future
Graced with love
John O’Donohue