Mrs Kate Busaka PGDip MBACP

Being in therapy takes courage.

I have great admiration for anyone who wants to do this work on themselves, and I understand that even getting to this stage may have felt fairly anxiety provoking.

Let me share with you a little bit about how I work.

I am a psychodynamic psychotherapeutic counsellor. This means that I hold value in understanding what happens in our unconscious world, in early relational dynamics, and in intrapsychic dynamics. I believe, for example, that our relationships with our primary caregivers have a profound impact on our future relationships and more importantly on the relationship we have with ourselves.

In life, events and relationships impact us in various ways.

For some, the cause of trauma may seem immediately identifiable, while for others it may take time to recognise. However, the impact of trauma is often devastating.

Yet this is not the only reason to be curious about our lives through the process of therapy, as for many people there is an inexplicable sense of things being incomplete or not good enough. Whatever your reason for choosing to embark on this personal work the process can be transformational.

Talking about these issues and bringing awareness and insight to some of our difficulties can be like turning on a light in a darkened room; we can begin to see things more clearly and perhaps we may also start to do things differently.

Therapy gives us an increased understanding about our thoughts, feelings and actions and in doing so, things stop simply happening to us: therapy gives us the opportunity to be the author of our own story.

I work in a person centred way which means that I endeavour to treat you as an individual and it is you who will influence how we work together. If during our sessions together we feel you may benefit from some techniques around mindfulness and body awareness I can incorporate these ideas also.

I follow the BACPs guidelines code of ethics.

Whoever you decide to embark on this transformative journey with, I wish you all the best -

Communicate courageously.

Relationship & Attachment Issues

Relationships bring out the best and the worst in all of us. Working on ourselves can support us to understand more fully our choices of partner and our modes of attachment.

“We are never so defenceless against suffering as when we love.” Sigmund Freud

There are many different challenges that arise in finding a partner and in understanding how we relate to others. Therapy can support us to navigate this process, to avoid the repetition of unhealthy patterns of relating and to develop within us a strong and stable base from which to begin relating to others in more positive ways.

Trauma & Bereavement

Trauma and bereavement can affect us profoundly, often causing us to respond to life as if it is still present even when it has long past.

“It takes enormous trust and courage to allow yourself to remember.” Bessel van der Kolk

The process of working through grief or through the echos of trauma takes patience. Therapy can support us to be curious about how we carry trauma, physically, emotionally and mentally, and through this knowing we do not undo the past but with courage we may be able to rebuild our relationship with it so that the here and now can be more fully embraced.

Overwhelm, Anxiety & Depression

Now more than ever many of us feel an enormous pressure to achieve. This need to achieve can leave us feeling overwhelmed and suffocated.

“The privilege of a lifetime is to become who you truly are.” Carl Jung

Physical, emotional and mental manifestation of anxiety, depression and overwhelm can be debilitating. Personal development work can support us to disentangle our own desire and creativity from external and internalised pressures so that we can be kinder to ourselves and learn how to live a more satisfying life.

Childhood Relationships

“We do as we have been done by.” John Bowlby

Our earliest relationships are some of the most impactful in our lives. How we learnt to relate to ourselves and others through our conscious and unconscious learning in these relationships can have a lasting legacy. Therapy can support us to reframe and reintegrate these experiences, to heal, and ultimately to be a good parent to our inner child.

'False Self' & Performance Arts

In many ways life teaches us which parts of us we can present to the world, which parts of us are loveable, good enough, and which parts of us are deserving of praise.

“Artists are people driven by the tension between the desire to communicate and the desire to hide.” Donald Winnicott

Particularly present for those in the performing arts, and for all those who enmesh their sense of identity with their social status, profession or position, learning to accept one’s complete self can be a daunting prospect. Therapy can support us to explore ourselves in our wholeness, to discover and reveal the parts we have unconciously hidden, and to encourage us to enliven a sense of self satisfaction without the need for external recognition.

'We’re only as needy as our unmet needs.' J. Bowlby

Being in therapy doesn't have to mean there is a problem -

One of the most common stigmas about being in therapy is that there is a problem to be solved. However, therapy is also a powerful self improvement tool. Is there anything more admirable or courageous than wanting to understand ourselves more or wanting to be the best version of ourselves that we can be?

I recommend therapy to everyone, it helps us to grow and it can empower us to have autonomy over our own lives. There are, of course, also events and relationships in our lives that destablise us and that present challenges which are simply too big to take on alone. For many of us, therapy is one of the biggest gifts we can give ourselves.

“I am not what happened to me, I am what I choose to become.” Carl G Jung

Choosing the right therapist for you can be a daunting prospect. It’s one of those things where you really need to go with your instinct – Ask yourself, will I be able to form a relationship with this person, do I see myself being my authentic self with them and telling them how it is for me?

The thing to remember is that we are all human.

If you get the sense that I might be the right therapist for you, then reach out to me, and let’s connect. By the end of the first session you are likely to know for sure.

If not now, when?

Take a deep breath, be courageous, and be kind to yourself.

I look forward to hearing from you,