{"id":38,"date":"2024-04-06T13:46:28","date_gmt":"2024-04-06T12:46:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rod-davies.co.uk\/index.php\/about\/"},"modified":"2024-04-08T20:48:22","modified_gmt":"2024-04-08T19:48:22","slug":"about","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/rod-davies.co.uk\/index.php\/about\/","title":{"rendered":"About"},"content":{"rendered":"<link rel=\"stylesheet\" href=\"https:\/\/rod-davies.co.uk\/wp-content\/plugins\/elementor-pro\/assets\/css\/widget-call-to-action.min.css\">\n<style>\/*! elementor - v3.20.0 - 26-03-2024 *\/\n.elementor-column .elementor-spacer-inner{height:var(--spacer-size)}.e-con{--container-widget-width:100%}.e-con-inner>.elementor-widget-spacer,.e-con>.elementor-widget-spacer{width:var(--container-widget-width,var(--spacer-size));--align-self:var(--container-widget-align-self,initial);--flex-shrink:0}.e-con-inner>.elementor-widget-spacer>.elementor-widget-container,.e-con>.elementor-widget-spacer>.elementor-widget-container{height:100%;width:100%}.e-con-inner>.elementor-widget-spacer>.elementor-widget-container>.elementor-spacer,.e-con>.elementor-widget-spacer>.elementor-widget-container>.elementor-spacer{height:100%}.e-con-inner>.elementor-widget-spacer>.elementor-widget-container>.elementor-spacer>.elementor-spacer-inner,.e-con>.elementor-widget-spacer>.elementor-widget-container>.elementor-spacer>.elementor-spacer-inner{height:var(--container-widget-height,var(--spacer-size))}.e-con-inner>.elementor-widget-spacer.elementor-widget-empty,.e-con>.elementor-widget-spacer.elementor-widget-empty{position:relative;min-height:22px;min-width:22px}.e-con-inner>.elementor-widget-spacer.elementor-widget-empty .elementor-widget-empty-icon,.e-con>.elementor-widget-spacer.elementor-widget-empty .elementor-widget-empty-icon{position:absolute;top:0;bottom:0;left:0;right:0;margin:auto;padding:0;width:22px;height:22px}<\/style>\n<style>\/*! elementor - v3.20.0 - 26-03-2024 *\/\n.elementor-heading-title{padding:0;margin:0;line-height:1}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title[class*=elementor-size-]>a{color:inherit;font-size:inherit;line-height:inherit}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-small{font-size:15px}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-medium{font-size:19px}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-large{font-size:29px}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-xl{font-size:39px}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-xxl{font-size:59px}<\/style>\n<h3>About me<\/h3>\n<h1>Rod Davies<\/h1>\n<p>Originally from South Wales I have spent a large part of my adult life living in New Zealand and it was there that I studied, qualified and worked as a psychotherapist.<\/p>\n<p>Offering face to face psychotherapy services for both individuals and couples&#8230;&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>I started this particular journey as a telephone counsellor for Mensline, in Auckland NZ in the early 90s. From here I took a 3 year, part time training to become a face to face counsellor for Lifeline. Having completed this I then was accepted into the 3 year, psychotherapy program in Auckland University of Technology (AUT), qualifying as a psychotherapist in 2001&#8230;.<\/p>\n<p>I have worked in a variety of clinical settings, community mental health services, Refugee and asylum seekers services, Family courts (couples therapy), ACC (Government funded therapy for survivors of sexual abuse), Justice dept. (Group work with men in the courts system, living without violence), EAP, University (student health) and private practice. This together with a life lived has given me a breadth of experience that I bring to my work, the understanding of the paradox that whilst we may approach life differently most of us want and need similar things, a sense of connection, to be understood, valued and heard, to express and feel love.<\/p>\n<p>It is more than a sad irony that in our time now of such abundance, free time and relative safety that many struggle with isolation, a sense of emptiness and despair. It would appear that the championing of the individual has moved us away from the collective self and our communities within which we can all feel connected. The 24\/7 availability of \u2018our people\u2019 online seems to offer little to help the deeper connection that we seek, the felt sense of being seen, heard and understood.<\/p>\n<p>It was a chap called Eric Berne (whose goal it was to simplify Freud\u2019s analytic theorem) who said, \u201cIt is not enough for us to be understood; we must also understand ourselves\u201d\u2026..I think that is a great summation of the task we all have in making a life that feels worthwhile, worthy of the difficulties and struggles we, at times endure.<\/p>\n<p>So, in essence there are two positions here that we present, the outward self that others see and that interacts with the world and the inner self, the one that we and we alone live with, talk to, struggle with and placate (or not). For many of us we are able to find a balance that allows us to function in our world, for some the ease of the balance allows them to flourish in a felt sense of contentment. Yet for others the internalised self is too disruptive, critical, punishing&#8230;resulting in such conditions as depression, anxiety, despair, suicidality, self harm etc\u2026.painful struggles that block our connectedness and create self serving scripts that keep us feeling trapped, unloved or lovable.<\/p>\n<p>So any type, style of therapy is a tool with which we work toward such understanding, to find patterns in our behaviour, thoughts, beliefs that when formed may have made sense (many of our beliefs about ourselves and others were formed in childhood as a way of making sense of our environment at that time or plainly, for survival) yet when repeated throughout our adult lives prove unhelpful, reductive, destructive. <br \/>When our awareness grows so do our options for change. Once we begin to understand why we do, think, feel, certain ways we can then begin to choose whether such responses are still valid or helpful and begin to develop something more helpful, appropriate, life affirming.<\/p>\n<p>Therapy offers the potential for this change. It is one of many ways people get the opportunity to slow down and analyse themselves, to be able to look at what it is in their lives that is not working in a space where the other\u2019s opinion is absent, a space free of unhelpful judgement, a space that is dependable and consistent.<\/p>\n<p>Ethics, good practice\u2026.it is important for the safe guard of the therapeutic space for any therapist to belong to a regulatory body and have regular, qualified supervision. I am member of BACP and adhere to their set of guidelines and ethics and have regular supervision with a senior member of this organisation. That said, maintaining client confidentiality is a key factor in building the trust and is ensured when discussing clinical dynamics (this being especially important in small communities).<\/p>\n<p>If you have any questions you would like answered or would like to book an introductory session then please email me on the link below&#8230;..<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>About me Rod Davies Originally from South Wales I have spent a large part of my adult life living in New Zealand and it was there that I studied, qualified and worked as a psychotherapist. Offering face to face psychotherapy services for both individuals and couples&#8230;&#8230; I started this particular journey as a telephone counsellor [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"elementor_header_footer","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-38","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rod-davies.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/38","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rod-davies.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rod-davies.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rod-davies.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rod-davies.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38"}],"version-history":[{"count":28,"href":"https:\/\/rod-davies.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/38\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":539,"href":"https:\/\/rod-davies.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/38\/revisions\/539"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rod-davies.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}