CLARE HUGHES PSYCHOTHERAPY

Finding Clarity

I will work with you by helping you to think about the issues you are facing now or have gone through in the past, to help you make sense of them and to process painful or difficult feelings. In bringing these feelings and experiences to the fore there is the possibility of finding clarity. You might feel stuck and the work may be challenging at times. You might be unsure about what you are feeling or what you need to think about. The aim is to get to the root of things to make long-lasting change.

Confidential Space

I will work with and alongside you to explore and unravel complicated thoughts and feelings in a secure, safe and confidential space.

Whether working in person or online the space I am working from is private and secure.  Working online can be helpful for people who might find accessing an person setting difficult due to busy schedules, mobility issues, illness, or transport issues.  Online work is an alternative way of meeting which works extremely well if you also have a space to meet in which is private and where you feel comfortable; and good internet access. Whether we meet in person or online my approach will be the same.  Together we will consider your reasons for coming to therapy and take care, over time, to notice underlying or earlier experiences that may impact or key into your current issues. The work will be relational and both thoughts and feelings in the mind and in the body will be acknowledged and held carefully. 

How I Work

Working psychodynamically means that we will think about your current feelings or symptoms and see how these may be affected and shaped by your past experiences. Over time we will work together to locate and connect patterns of thinking or behaviour which had previously been kept hidden away. In giving attention to experience, and feelings that surface in our work together, there is the possibility of processing difficult feelings and moving out of a stuck state of mind or repetitive patterns of thinking and behaviour.

I seek to be anti-racist, being aware of privilege and unconscious bias, and I welcome people of all gender identities, relationship and sexual orientations.

My Training

My clinical and academic training was at Oxford University, on the Masters Programme in Psychodynamic Practice, a four year in-depth and rigorous personal, theoretical and clinical training. I am an accredited full clinical member of the UKCP and follow their codes of ethics. 

My Experience

I have experience of working with adults one to one and in groups. I have supported individuals who have had experience of abuse, trauma, loss, grief, family and relationship difficulties, divorce, anxiety, low mood and depression, suicide bereavement, chronic illness. But more importantly I am ready to hold you in mind as an individual with your own unique experience.

Research and Practice

I have conducted research in the area of loss and grief. Engaging in qualitative academic research has given me the opportunity to explore ways of working and understanding our own experiences and also wider societal influences. My clinical practice is a growing developing work enhanced through my own learning, continuing professional development and supervision.