Sam De Gruchy

Hi, I'm Sam. I'm an Integrative Counsellor based in Brighton offering therapy in-person and online.

I hold space from a foundation of trust in the healing process innate in all people, and with compassionate understanding of just how difficult things can get along the way. Negative and difficult experiences are as much a part of life as joy and peace, and I believe the former are all ultimately pathways to the latter, inviting compassion towards ourselves and others. At times it can feel as though we are isolated or misunderstood, in dread or despair, overwhelmed or stuck, and therapy can provide both the opportunity to come up for air as well as to dive deeper into ourselves: to heal or transform what no longer serves us and to nurture and empower ourselves from a place of depth and understanding.

Integrative therapy is the coming together of multiple therapeutic approaches adapted and combined in a way that best serves you as a unique human being. I am trained academically and therapeutically in Psychodynamic, Existential, CBT, Transactional Analysis and Gestalt approaches among others, but always working from a Person-Centred base in my practice. This means trusting that you already hold the wisdom to process and approach whatever difficulties are arising for you at this time in your life, as well as for empathic and honest inquiry into where they may have arisen from in your past. Sessions are rooted in immediacy, working intuitively with what emerges in the present moment, whilst at the same time honouring your goals and cultivating clarity, self-awareness and self-compassion over time. I work relationally, which places value on the interaction between the two of us, meaning humanness, humour, empathy and healthy challenge are all welcome with an open heart and mind as part of the therapeutic process. I am here to listen attentively and compassionately to the best of my ability, always with your best interests in mind.

I am a registered member of the BACP and an affiliate member of the Institute of Psychedlic Therapy. I aim to combine academic training in psychology, therapeutic training in counselling, and personal experiences and interest in the more somatic and transpersonal side of things. If you are interested in working together I very much look forward to us connecting.