Thirty Years as a Therapist

I had a birthday last week and realised something quietly astonishing: I have been a therapist for 30 years.

I began my adult working life as an Occupational Therapist in the NHS; practical, hands on, action orientated work that taught me a great deal about people, minds, bodies and systems. While working in a Community Adult Mental Health team I completed an Integrative Counselling diploma, qualifying in 2002, the same year I married. I loved the work of listening to people, supporting them as they processed emotion, grief, loss, change and difficult periods in their lives.

I went on to study at Oxford University 's Psychodynamic Psychotherapy training programme, which was one of the most formative experiences of my professional life. After my second baby was born I left the NHS but carried on part-time as a psychodynamic therapist in private practice, from the front room of my home. I have never really looked back, just kept learning, developing, evolving through my professional life, mothering and marriage.

My job is to listen deeply to people; individuals, couples, sometimes groups. I spend my days hearing peoples stories, thoughts, opinions and secrets - listening to their feelings, sometimes listening for the feelings that have not yet found words. I have delicate, emotionally intense, precise conversations. I count it an extraordinary privilege.

Why Being Seen as a Therapist is Complicated

I trained in a different era. I was never trained to 'Be Seen'.

Qualifications, experience, putting in the hours, honing skills, continuing my professional development, these were the metric. Now it seems, visibility matters. We live in a world of instant access, algorithms and online presence. Most of my training happened before smart phones or social media, before therapists were expected to show up in public facing ways.

Being Seen as a therapist is, for me, quite a challenge.

I have wrestled with it for a while. I have watched other therapists build businesses through social media but I've noticed how counter intuitive it can feel as a psychodynamic therapist to step forward in that way.

In training I learnt a great deal about therapist neutrality. I also know that collaboration, attachment and the real relationship between therapist and client matter deeply. Therapy doesn't need to depend on distance or mystery to be meaningful. It is the most human endeavour and it's hard to translate that on an Instagram reel.

I also know this: the unconscious is alive and well, whether we like it or not (or understand it or even believe in it) it always shows up in some way in the therapeutic encounter (A. Schore, The Right Brain & the Origin of Human Nature, 2026). Therapy and counselling work best when the working alliance is strong. When there is enough trust, shared purpose, practical agreement and clear boundaries to support the work. Again and again change seems to happen through relationship.

What it Means to Be Seen in Therapy

This is where I notice a parallel with what happens in the consulting room.

Be Seen....Be found.

In my consulting room - whether I am working with individuals, couples or groups - people need to show up. Clients need to commit. You need to allow yourself to be honestly seen. My job is to try to find you. The real you, behind the job titles, the roles you fulfil, the ways you protect yourself and the experiences that have shaped you.

My job is to see something of your inner world. Something of what it's like to be you. I want to hear what has happened to you and to understand the anxieties, fears and emotions that sit behind how you present yourself in the world.

Coming for therapy is largely about allowing yourself to be seen and found by another human being. It takes enormous courage. It means being brave enough to be vulnerable. To face yourself, to trust another to witness the real you, to keep showing up and to carry hope for change. This can happen in brief counselling or in open-ended psychotherapy. But there are no shortcuts to proper healing, personal change, seeing things differently, relating better.

For that reason I am going to endeavour to be seen and to be found too. I may not be a natural content creator but I do know I am a good therapist. If I am not the best fit for a client I will refer on to trusted colleagues where I can. I know how to listen well, attune deeply, feel with people, hear what is being said and sit with what is not yet ready to be said. I will try to bring some of my experience to this blog. Answering common questions I hear in my work, reflecting on psychotherapy, counselling, parenting or relationships, and offering something that may help you feel understood by another human being.

If you are looking for psychodynamic therapy, brief counselling, perinatal counselling or couples therapy in Edinburgh, and something here resonates with you I would be glad to hear from you. You are welcome to get in touch to arrange an initial conversation and explore whether working together might feel like the right next step.

Pippa, July 2026