Relational psychotherapy is based on the idea that our sense of self developed from our early experiences of having our emotions recognised by and responded to by others. Individuals do not have to have experienced childhood abuse or neglect for their emotional needs to have not been responded to. There are many circumstances which could lead to a child’s emotions not being seen or responded to, including a caregiver’s own history of not being responded to by their parents, caregiver/s’ mental health difficulties or drug/alcohol abuse, stress in the family including financial stress or the death of a child or grandparent, a lot of children in the home, punitive child-rearing practices, absent caregivers - this is not an exhaustive list.
Children may have been raised in ‘loving’ homes, however if these homes did not allow the child to express their natural self in all their emotional messiness and/or needed the child to be a certain way to maintain the emotional needs of the caregiver/s, then it is likely that child will have cut off or disavowed those parts of themselves that were not responded to in order to maintain much-needed ties to the caregiver/s. This disavowal can cause problems with an individual’s sense of self later in life, experienced usually as emotional distress and then diagnosed by the medical community as mental health disorders.
Relational psychotherapists often work with all mental health diagnoses, from depression and anxiety up to and including psychotic disorders. This is because self-psychologists understand mental health difficulties as arising from the same core problem, and do not need different categories or methods to work with what is essentially expressions of the same core problem.
Psychotherapy with a relational psychotherapist therefore aims at assisting the client with this core problem: the gradual elucidation and integration of emotional experiences that have been previously undeveloped, cut off or denied so that an individual can develop a more full, embodied and whole sense of self that is not reliant on defense mechanisms or coping strategies to survive.
Somatic and trauma-based interventions
In addition to the talking therapy involved in relational psychotherapy, I have additional training in somatic (body-based) techniques that assist clients to become aware of emotions within their body and ways of supporting themselves to experience these emotions. I also have training in Eye Movement and Desensitisation Reprocessing therapy (EMDR, level 2), which can be particularly useful for shifting traumatic memories.
As per the Australian guidelines for Medicare funding under the Better Access to Mental Health Care Scheme, I also utilise a variety of evidence-based modalities with clients, including: exploring cognitions, emotions, behaviours; physiological regulation strategies and techniques; interpersonal communication skill strategies; and, mindfulness.