Richard Lewis
Member Status: Accredited
Member No: NCS19-07926
Location: Bristol
My focus is on your autonomous process of self-discovery. I aim to support you to develop a strong and healthy sense of self, to explore your feelings, find meaning and feel known.
I describe myself as trauma-informed and this is at the heart of my decision to qualify and my approach to practice. Taking a trauma-informed approach to therapy means accepting and exploring the role and influence of adverse life experiences on issues such as anxiety, depression and so on, understanding these as natural human responses to threat, rather than "faulty thinking" located inside the individual. I have worked extensively with complex trauma, with survivors of hate crimes and domestic violence and abuse, including coercive control. I work with all genders, I am an unconditional GSRD ally and sensitive to neurodiverse perspectives.
My approach generally combines aspects of Person-Centred Therapy (you are the expert on you), Gestalt Therapy (what sensations and thoughts are happening for you right now?) and Psychodynamic Therapy (let's look into the past and see if we can find unconscious patterns between past and present), but as my client you are always in the driving seat.
I became a therapist because I wanted to make a compassionate response to suffering and offer an alternative to the “othering” of client experience I was seeing in some areas of mental health. You’re not broken. Let’s start there.
I work with whatever my clients bring to the room. I've listed a few key areas below but if you don't see your particular issue there please feel able to get in touch anyway.
