George Petrou (my pronouns are He/Him/His)

I am a relational integrative therapist. Relational means, it is the therapeutic relationship itself which heals. My attuned empathic responses to your experiences/feelings quite simply, help you feel better. Integrative means, I use more than one form of therapy to meet your needs because, you are unique. It also means, our work together may focus on allowing you to become a more whole/integrated person, better able to access the full spectrum of your mental, emotional, relational and behavioural experience.

The foundations of our therapeutic relationship are person-centred, in that it is based on empathy, unconditional positive-regard for you and genuine responses to your experience. It also means, the therapy only goes where you want it to. Attachment, describes how we relate to ourselves, other people and the world. We develop our attachment style and internal working model of attachment within the first four years of life through the responses of our parents to our emotional and material needs. Working with the feelings which still shape us from that phase of our development, can be a truly enlightening and healing.

Difference matters, because same doesn't exist, we are all unique. So, when I begin to work with you, I will work hard to understand you be using multi-cultural case formulation to reflect upon issues of difference such as gender, ethnicity, race, sexuality, religion, culture etc. I do not expect you to educate me other than by sharing your experience and want you to know that every part of you is welcome in our relationship.

My experiences of working with victims of modern slavery, have highlighted the necessity of always working in a trauma informed manner, because to talk about trauma can be to re-traumatise. With this in mind, I will work safely and ethically with you, to ensure that our therapy only achieves beneficial results. Years ago, I made the decision to put people at the very centre of what I do for a living, and it has been the best choice I ever made. Helping people feel better is beautiful work, I love what I do and feel very grateful for it. I am passionate about the capacity of the therapeutic relationship to facilitate healing change, having experienced it myself as well as through those with whom I've worked.

Recent neuroscience shows that neuroplasticity continues throughout the lifespan which means, change and healing are always possible. It has also been shown that, the therapeutic relationship is one of the most effective ways to achieve this. I began working with counselling clients in 2019 and have worked in the field of mental health in a variety of supportive roles since 2015. I have experience of working with people experiencing autistic spectrum conditions, learning disabilities, offenders, victims of crime, survivors of abuse, those experiencing substance dependency issues as well as victims of modern slavery. These experiences have helped me to develop strong capacities for acceptance, empathy and non-judgemental attunement/understanding, which I feel are the essential qualities of a good therapist.