I am specialised in the person-centred approach to psychotherapy, which is widely acknowledged as one of the most creative and effective ways of helping and assisting people in need.

As a person-centred therapist, I strongly hold to my non-directive and non-authoritative attitude during a session with clients. I believe that the client is the only expert in their own internal world and the only person who really knows how they experience their world, their feelings and their reality. I also believe that every human being possesses their own inner strength and resources to grow and overcome difficulties, so every client of mine deserves respect for their capacity to choose their own values to live by and their own directions in life.

Based on such beliefs, I do not play the role of a magical healer or pretend to be an expert who knows everything about every client. Rather than directing or advising clients what to do, I do act as a facilitator to the client’s process to find their own way to deal with their issues and difficulties. In other words, I do act as a companion and collaborator who assists and supports clients to identify what choices are available to them and make a decision in their best interest.

Taking a non-directive approach also means I offer therapeutic work, tailored to suit the individual needs of each client; that is to say, my work is guided by the client’s needs and goals for therapy. I neither lead or guide clients to expose things that they do not want to discuss in a session, nor probe or pry into anything they tell me. I may gently and cautiously invite them to talk about certain things to clarify what I heard and understood. Still, however, clients will be in the charge of the therapy session, thereby talking only about whatever they want to discuss. This would lead the clients to feel empowered in the session and develop a greater understanding of their self, self-awareness and improved self-concepts.

Maintaining a non-directive attitude is not being passive during a session; rather, I am very active in engaging with clients. I attentively and non-judgmentally listen to my clients, empathically following their process and actively communicating my insightful understanding into their issues. Taking a phenomenological approach, I believe that every individual is different and unique; they experience and perceive own world and react in an individual way. Thus, I do not judge my client’s thought and behaviour, as everyone has their own reasons for everything they do. I do not assume the client’s experience based on my experience. What I do is to empathise with clients, rather than sympathise with them or analyse and interpret their world. I try to understand and sense how the client experiences events, and I try to understand and feel what the client is feeling like, as if I were the client. My empathic understanding and insight into their experiences and feelings would help the clients to make sense of what is happening to them externally and internally or make new meanings of what they are experiencing.

In addition, I am often very open with my feelings as I experience them during the session. This is to stay authentic, genuine and honest with clients in sharing how I experience the clients without putting on any pretence. Lastly, I work ethically; I am fully aware of and wholly committed to ethical code and practice as a registered member of UKCP (UK Council of Psychotherapy), abide by their ethical guidelines.