Coming soon…
Episode for documentary series ‘What is Therapy’ with The Healing Hunter
How do I forgive myself or someone else?
Article for Counselling Directory
Interview for It’s Complicated podcast
I speak with psychotherapist Johanne Schwensen from therapy platform It’s Complicated about perfection, therapy in the wild, how we see money and what it means when companies pay.
See Johanne’s blog post for the full article.
Contributor for Therapy Today magazine
‘The therapeutic relationship transcends geography’ Working remotely has allowed me to connect with clients all over the world. As someone with an interest in the challenges of living away from home, this has opened up new opportunities for my work and shown me that the therapeutic relationship transcends geography. I am confident now that I do not need to be in the same room as someone to co-create a space for enquiry and self-revelation, and the psyche will bring what it needs to, be it online or in person. Although some clients struggle with using the same space for work, leisure and therapy, I think many are more relaxed in their own space. We can both see into each other’s physical spaces, which feels like a fitting symbol for the lack of hierarchy in the client-therapist relationship. I like to work creatively and usually enjoy the spontaneity of having art materials and a sand tray in the room, but such interventions are still possible online with planning. Besides practical adaptations such as this, I probably haven’t learnt much more from working remotely over the past year than I would have done from working in person, as I mostly learn from the process with my clients and that has remained unchanged. I can’t say whether I prefer it or not, but I will definitely continue working remotely for the international access it provides and extra time and energy it affords me.
Gemma Autumn, integrative counsellor
Talking Point: Online lessons, What has working remotely taught you? (Therapy Today, May 2021)
‘Fifteen is the maximum number of people I can see in a week’ When I entered private practice, how many clients to have was one of the big mysteries. I had heard of psychoanalysts seeing 40 people in a week and the more I spoke to other practitioners, there didn’t seem to me to be a standard number. For the first few months, I had four clients a week and I turned down new client enquiries until I felt comfortable with that number. I then looked at my finances and considered how I would like the rhythm of my week to be, and how many sessions I would need to do to pay my mortgage and bills. As I am also an artist, creative expression is a crucial part of my practice, so I also needed to factor in two days a week for this. Through slowly building my hours, I found that I could see up to five clients online per day. I have found that 15 is the maximum number of people I can see in a week as this gives me enough time between clients to reflect and rebalance. What makes this all sustainable in the long term is being clear with clients that I take regular breaks. This means a minimum of one week around Easter, two weeks at Christmas and two weeks over the summer. This is the key for me in terms of preventing burnout and I believe it’s important modelling for so many of my clients who struggle with internalised guilt and shame around rest and productivity. Since completing some training in ‘wild therapy’, I am now looking to take part of my practice outside to be alongside the other-than-human world. I am curious to see if and how this affects my capacity.’
Gemma Autumn, integrative counsellor
Talking Point: Lucky numbers, What is your optimal client caseload? (Therapy Today, July/August 2021)