Alex Jurgensen

MSc MBACP

Counsellor & Psychotherapist for Adults

Availability
Face to face:  Monday morning/evening, Tuesday morning/afternoon/evening, Wednesday morning/afternoon, Thursday morning/evening, Friday afternoon

Fees: £65 per session

I believe that life is filled with challenges and obstacles for a reason, that these have inherent in them a great potential for personal growth and transformation that only becomes manifest once we face our pain and endeavour to understand it.

The therapy that I offer is designed with the goal of providing space to ourselves, to our difficult thoughts and emotions. As long as we keep them at arm’s length, or hidden in a dark corner, life will remain superficial, unsatisfying, and conflict-ridden.

On the contrary, when we find the courage to face and understand our pain, not only do we find better ways of dealing with it, but it also becomes a pathway through which we can know ourselves more deeply.

This is how Rumi put it: “Don’t turn away. Keep your gaze on the bandaged place. That’s where the light enters you.”

Qualifications:

• MSc in Counselling (University of Northampton)
• MSc in Psychology (BPP University London)

Experience:

• Sue Ryder Duchess of Kent Hospice (Reading), where I work with end-of-life patients and family members.
• Change Grow Live (Manchester), where I worked with people struggling with substance misuse.
• Mind (Rushden), where I worked with self-referred adults.
• The Bower House (Market Harborough), where I worked with self-referred adults.

Since I consider the approach that I have to counselling to be universal, I think anyone can benefit from it: no matter their circumstances. Having said that, I’ve found it particularly effective when working with:

• Existential crises
• Stress and Anxiety
• Bereavement and Loss
• Depression
• Addiction

Approach and orientation:

I work mainly in a person-centred way, but I tend to integrate elements of transpersonal psychology, mindfulness and meditation into the sessions, where I see appropriate.

You will be asked to guide the sessions to those topics that you find the most important to discuss. I will help you to dig deeper into them as we go, and I will constantly encourage you to keep reflecting on how you feel about the matter at hand.

The first step towards overcoming our sorrow is to listen to what it has to tell us: the lesson that it is here to teach us. Nonetheless, most of us do not have the presence, nor the guidance, or the knowledge of how to provide our difficult thoughts and emotions with the space that they need. This lack of space is what leads to increased anxiety, depression, as well as low self-esteem, and even addiction.

What we will aim towards is showing you how you can lower your barriers, face the pain you’re carrying, and learn to stop resisting it.

When we learn to sit with the discomfort of our internal experience, that’s when we grow internally. Therapy is not about solving problems but rather about transcending them. What does this mean? It means that when you learn to face your pain, you grow.

“What stands in the way becomes the way.” – Marcus Aurelius