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Jo Shaw

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Jo Shaw
Accreditation
MA, MBACP
Job title
Counsellor & Psychotherapist

My outlook

What are the ingredients of successful therapy? Here’s my take:

First, a therapist who you feel really ‘gets’ you. Who can tune in to what’s going on for you. So much is about the relationship – and the development of a feeling of trust and security - so that you can really bring what you need to bring, say what needs saying, or feel what you need to feel.

Second, a therapist who can help you find the strength and resilience within you to move through whatever is troubling you or causing you distress. Maybe this is about finding meanings or insights you haven’t found before, seeing connections you haven’t previously made, or beginning to see that you are allowed to put down some pain that you have been carrying – pain that may have been handed to you by events or by others.

Third, a therapist who can help you understand that you are not the problem – that the problem is the problem. This is about helping people to stand back from their challenges to gain some mental space and see them in new ways. This can help you find what’s needed to tackle the challenges, with resources that you can discover inside.  We often tell ourselves stories about our lives, putting self-punishing narratives together that have been created not so much by ourselves but by the world (parents, partners, teachers, society). There is another way – we can rewrite our own stories in rich ways to rediscover our strength.

I work with all sorts of people. Some are dealing with anxiety, or depression. Some have been through trauma or abuse. Some have faced loss – of a loved one, or a sense of purpose and meaning in life. Some have been dealing with shame or confusion about who they are – perhaps rooted in their sexual or gender identity. Some are carrying a feeling of worthlessness.

My job is to blend the three ingredients above together to help them truly help themselves.

My approach

I’m an integrative therapist. This means that I have trained in a range of approaches so that I can be well placed to adapt and orient our work in directions that feel right for you. I sometimes drawn on psychodynamic ideas – the belief that some patterns, and some hurts, can get imprinted in us when we’re younger and then lie unexamined deep in our minds until they make themselves felt again in later relationships or in our own self-worth (or lack of it). This can happen without us fully realising why we are doing it. I also bring Narrative therapy concepts to bear – creating the space to see problems from a distance and turning attention to the stories we can write about our lives that strengthen us. I’ll bring ideas in from other models too, if it seems useful to you.

I am compassionate, warm and straightforward. Clients have told me that I am easy to talk to. I have a particular commitment to working with those who have been made to feel worthless because of their sexual or gender identity, their race, religion, nationality ethnic background, or how they came to Britain – and who are struggling with that. I have personal experience of this in my own life. I’m also committed to working with people with a disability (the room I use at Number 42 is reached via two flights of stairs unfortunately but if this is relevant to you we may be able to work online?).

My training and experience

I retrained in my 50s, after a long career in marketing. I have an MA in Psychotherapy and Counselling from a London university, a Level 2 qualification in Narrative Therapy from a centre in Adelaide and I am currently (2024-25) studying for a Diploma in working with Gender, Sexuality and Relationship Diversity with an LGBTQI+ focussed practice in Dublin. I have also worked in a residential centre for those considering suicide or with a history of attempts. Prior to training as a therapist, I gained an MA in Digital Culture and Society – my thesis explored the way our online lives can affect our mental health.

 

Contact me

To book a session or ask any questions feel free to contact me directly.

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