Ray contacted me to resolve what he’d been told were his anger management issues and after an initial discussion we agreed to meet initially for 6 sessions to explore this with an expectation to then continue, after progress had been reviewed.

It quickly became clear that he wasn’t an intrinsically angry man but had become increasingly frustrated by people close to him, who did not understand or respect the values with which he had been raised and which he had, in turn, encouraged in his own children. He had always had a tendency to ‘speak his mind’ and this caused problems when his values clashed with those of people around him.

His positive values of respect, courtesy and co-operative working were identified along with an exploration of how ‘speaking his mind’ was not always the most effective strategy for resolving differences, or getting his views understood. We then identified more appropriate future strategies and monitored their effectiveness, with positive improvements soon seen.

The core work was completed in 4 weeks and we staggered the remaining two sessions, to give him time to practice and integrate what he’d learned about himself.

Freda engaged with me after a life changing experience which profoundly challenged the way she was living her life. I created a secure environment in which she felt safe enough to explore her history in a way that helped find context and meaning to her experiences along with new understanding and direction for her future and for that of her children.

We explored her emotional confusion, where authentic feelings of sadness and grief had been taken hostage by anger which she had directed towards herself for many years, this manifesting as destructive attitudes and behaviours. This exploration was powerfully facilitated in local woodland where the trees and landscape became a living metaphor, mirroring her life’s experiences. New growth, in the form of saplings growing from a fallen tree trunk also served as a motivation to a better future, as we considered Nature’s resilience in its battle to survive and adapt to its environment.

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