Katy Fitzgerald

My desire is to provide a safe and supportive space and time for you to do your work. You can tell me as much or as little of your story as you feel comfortable. You will not be analysed or judged or told what to think. You will be listened to, accepted for where you are at the moment, acknowledged as a fully alive human being, and supported in meeting your challenges and growing through and beyond them.

Some of the approaches I may invite you to work with, include Sandplay, Writing, Drawing, Focusing and Life Coaching.

---

Sandplay

Working with Sandplay, consists of a tray of sand and various symbols that represent things from our world. These may include, people, animals, houses, nature, etc.

You sit comfortably next to the sand tray, and you may at first just like to play with the sand and get used to how it feels.

if you like, you can select some symbols and arrange them however you like in the sand tray. This can be a way of having your story unfold without having to find words that might be painful. Sandplay also is a way of having subconscious thoughts and beliefs revealed - thoughts and beliefs that we were not consciously aware of holding.

Sandplay allows you to make connections between your inner and your outer world; to see more clearly what is happening in your world and to regain a sense of beauty, excitement and possibilities.

---

Drawing

This type of drawing does not require any special artistic ability. It is more about picking up a crayon or pencil and just allowing yourself to draw what you feel you want to. The meaning of the drawing may not be apparent to you, however the process can facilitate getting in touch with deeper issues that you may not be fully conscious of.

It may be a very simple drawing where the meaning is quite evident to you, or it may be something more mysterious where the meaning is not immediately obvious, but will emerge when the time is right for you.

Your drawings are not analysed or judged, they are simply there for you to receive their wisdom. On completion of your drawing, you are free to keep it as a reminder of your work, place it in a significant position or alternatively you may wish to destroy it if this is a more symbolic and effective way of dealing with the content.

---

Writing

Writing un-self-consciously can be a way of getting in touch with deeper feelings and thoughts.

This type of writing can be useful in assisting you to see a difficult or confusing situation from different perspectives. For example you may like to write with one hand how you feel about the situation, and write with your other hand from the point of view of another person involved in the same situation.

Writing can also be a helpful way of gaining more insight from dreams. You may wish to write a letter to someone and express what you were never able to express. This does not mean the letter needs to be sent, however it is enabling the expression of what may need to be said.

Writing, or keeping a journal, is also a useful and helpful thing to do to between your counselling sessions.

---

Focusing

Focussing is a very gentle meditative approach to assisting you to get in touch with how your body is feeling at any particular time.

It is identifying those butterflies in your stomach, tightness in your chest, pain in your back, etc., and instead of trying to push the feeling away, Focussing gives you the opportunity to sit with those feelings and sensations and discover what they may truly be about, and the wisdom within them.

Focussing allows you the opportunity to come close to particular feelings, alternatively you may wish to maintain a distance if that feels safer and more what you need to do.

---

Life Coaching

Life Coaching is a co-creative process which can assist you in clearly seeing what you would like in your life and what steps are required to work toward this. This may be a quite specific area, for instance, changing jobs, getting fit, having more fun or handling finances more efficiently.

Life Coaching may use the 'Wheel of life' exercise, to encourage you to look at your life as a whole, considering aspects such as career, money, health, friends and family, romance, personal growth and fun and recreation. When these areas are marked out in a wheel, it gives you a chance to see how your life is riding. is it a smooth ride or a bumpy ride?