Claire Parrish, Psychotherapist MBACP
I work in this field because I think it provides vitality. I believe in the therapeutic relationship as a powerful tool for transformation. I don’t do the work, my clients do! I am really a facilitator, to listen to another’s painful or confusing experiences, to help make sense of these and to emotionally hold and contain them through this process.
Talking can make a difference. It enables sharing in a confidential environment, promotes self-awareness and can help heal our past experiences. The training is both theoretical and experiential and involves a clinical placement and a pre- requisite number of hours in practice to qualify. My training from start to finish was seven years part time and I am continuing to learn from my clients every day! I cannot recommend a more fulfilling and humbling career.
I work predominantly in psychotherapy, for the NHS , where short term therapy is offered and I provide private consultations where longer term therapy may be beneficial. What this means in practice is that I offer a therapeutic setting for one‐to‐one therapy, where a client is free to talk safely and feel heard.
Mental health can be a phrase with negative connotations. I overheard a commuter the other day on the tube. She was talking to a friend discussing potential counselling, but she was anxious. The word “mental” made her feel uneasy, labelled and somewhat stigmatised unwell. She had decided she would only choose a therapist who cited emotional wellbeing in their marketing. Nothing with the word mental!
This makes sense to me. I hope in time mental health is stigma free. In our current social climate, depression and anxiety are on the increase, not to mention self-harm and traumatic experiences. The concept that we might find emotional regulation, a better sense of self and wellbeing is at the heart of therapy.
Not all therapies are the same, there is a broad range of approaches and methods. My rationale is not prescriptive, as an Integrative therapist I draw upon Existential, Humanistic and Psychodynamic theory, ranging from Freud to Sartre. I am passionate about Attachment theory and I also focus on trauma work.
The Old Cornelian SUMMER 2017 55
For more information on finding a therapist the BACP runs a campaign It’s Good to Talk, listing therapists throughout the UK. (
www.itsgoodtotalk.org.uk)
I left Mayfield to take a Business degree, and then an Interior Design diploma. I have a Design and Decoration business which runs in tandem. (
www.parrishadams.com) In fact, one of the benefits of working in this field, is the flexibility to work in multiple practices, even dual careers! The Harvard Review even goes so far as to state recently that a dual career is the key to staying sane. Now that is a very interesting take on mental health!
Please feel free to email me if you would like to know more. OC
claireparrish@therapydia.co.uk www.therapydia.co.uk
Claire Parrish Class of 1995
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64
