Henriette Kesten
Therapies / Treatments
Psychodynamic Psychotherapist
Person-centered Counselling
You might be experiencing a range of different thoughts, behaviours, emotions or bodily states that you find difficult to make sense of, and that might be unsettling to you. Or you might feel stuck with a specific issue, perhaps something that has come up before that you feel is holding you back, or that you feel ashamed of.
Whatever might be going on for you, I can support you to gain a better understanding of your current difficulties. In my experience, this can help you to act from a place of curiosity and self-compassion, rather than in reaction to unconscious patterns.
My approach to therapy is at core relational, meaning that I am interested in how we relate to others and our environment, including social, cultural, familial and other aspects of our identity, and how these shape who we are. In our sessions, we work on co-creating a relationship that feels safe enough for you to become curious about yourself, in which we can perhaps challenge some of the assumptions you might hold that no longer resonate for you and construct new meanings. In this process I often invite us to consider what is happening in the “here-and-now” of the therapeutic encounter as a way to deepen our exploration.
I hold a Master’s Degree in Counselling and Psychotherapy from the University of Edinburgh, where I was trained in psychodynamic and person-centred approaches to therapy. Psychodynamic theory, especially, offers a helpful lens to make sense of the experiences you bring by inviting us to consider the impact of the past on the present. Combined with a relational approach, therapy can be a great place to become conscious of and perhaps challenge the emotional and behavioural patterns which shape our life through exploration and relational insights, whilst it can also be a space to cultivate curiosity in the face of uncertainty and anxiety. As a qualified yoga teacher, I am passionate about working holistically, considering the interplay of our bodily states and our emotional landscape, and for my Master’s Thesis I explored an individual’s experience of living with non-epileptic seizures, a subtype of functional neurological disorder (FND), which are caused by underlying psychological factors. If any of the above resonates for you and you are curious to work together, it would be great to hear from you!
I offer a free 15-20 minutes video call to get to know each other and get a sense of whether we feel that we would be a good fit working together. I know that it can be challenging to get in touch, perhaps because you are not quite sure where to start or what to say- however you arrive is totally fine, and we can begin just as you are.
Qualifications
Master's Degree in Counselling and Psychotherapy, MBACP, University of Edinburgh