My Therapy Approach in 5: Holistic Therapy in Leiden
I do as much as possible to meet you in your fullness of being human.
1. Client-Centred Therapy: Our Therapy Journey Is Based on You
I walk alongside you, not in front of you. You decide where you want to go, and how big the steps are.
Our therapeutic journey focuses on your needs. You decide when you feel ready enough to work through unprocessed hurts (trauma), whether we do a therapeutic exercise or not, and how fast we go. I meet you where you are. I offer reflective perspectives, therapeutic tools and interventions (like EMDR, IFS, Art Therapy, Schema Therapy and more). You choose what you want to adopt into our work together.
2. Holistic Psychotherapy: Our Therapy Journey Connects With the Wholeness That You Are
Our therapy journey connects with the wholeness that you are, totally unique and entirely multidimensional.
To meet you in your entirety, I offer a myriad of perspectives, therapeutic exercises, tools, visualisations, meditations and resources (the list goes on, because I’m incredibly passionate about psychology. I’m continuously reading up, undergoing further trainings and workshops). To be seen just as you are, an intricate being with unique needs, interests and experiences, is powerful. To be attuned to just as you are, without having to do anything, is incredibly healing. You can read more about this philosophy on our Our Mission & Philosophy page.
3. Trauma-Informed Therapy: Our Therapy Journey Is Trauma-Informed
Trauma changes our neurobiology, the neurochemical sequences that cause negative valence reactions, and that prune and shape our neural networks.
Trauma can be ‘T’ or ‘t’, driven by abuse, neglect, being a witness to violence, catastrophes, bullying, difficult deaths, or polarising attachment figures, among other experiences. When we go through a very stressful experience, our bodies go into survival mode. Our prefrontal cortex goes offline, and our limbic system and brain stem region become hyperactive. It’s wonderfully adaptive, because it helps us survive our environment.
This becomes an issue when that stressful experience demands more than what our resources can sustain. We feel overwhelmed, stuck, helpless. If the difficult experience isn’t processed, it can become lodged in our neural memory, like a tangled net. This manifests in compensatory behaviours we develop to avoid repeating that pain (for example, taking on perfectionism, because the instability in your parent’s relationship was so out of your control, and doing the best you could gave you a sense of power). Adaptive in the past. Dysfunctional in the present.
I’m trained in EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing), level I and II, which the World Health Organisation recognises as the optimal treatment for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. I also use approaches from Internal Family Systems therapy and Schema Therapy to further the processing of painful experiences. If you’re curious how a first session looks, take a look at How It Works.
4. Anti-Racist, Anti-Ableist, LGBTQIA+ and Neurodivergent Affirmative Therapy
Our therapy journey celebrates your identity.
We honour you. That means entirely supporting who you are: celebrating who you’re attracted to and love, honouring the uniqueness of your brain, and being a queer person of colour myself, I understand what it means to exist in a system that marginalises my communities.
However, I also acknowledge my privilege in being a cisgender, able-bodied, neurotypical person in this system. I question my position in society, because I want to disrupt patterns of oppression, especially in therapy. We’re on the same team. We always follow your needs.
5. Western and Eastern Psychotherapy: Our Therapy Journey Weaves in Schools of Thought, Based on What You Connect With Most
Our therapy is built on the foundation of evidence-based psychological protocols, underscored by neurobiology (mind-body interaction), models of attachment and the polyvagal theory.
That being said, if you want to peep into your subconscious by interpreting dreams, weave in the Taoist perspective, or consider Indigenous wisdom and intuition, I’m game. Given that I’m a cultural melting pot of Western and Eastern influences, I can offer these approaches to you. I adapt to you and your needs.
If this approach to holistic therapy in Leiden resonates with you, I'd love to hear from you. Take a look at Individual Therapy or reach out to begin.
