Issues to do with work and career can stem from a combination of many different challenges including low self-esteem and confidence, anger and rage (your own or that of colleagues), experiencing discrimination, stress and anxiety, being autistic (or neurodivergent in some other way), going through perimenopause or menopause, struggling with physical health issues. Also, our learned ways of interacting with others can hinder us: our experiences of being raised in our family of origin have profound effects on us throughout our lives. The implicit lessons we learned in childhood, about how to communicate with others, what to expect from relationships with friends and those we don’t see eye to eye with, how to deal with anger and rage and other intense feelings, who we are and what our place in the world is, all stay with us and impact the choices we make about work, relationships, friendships and self-care.
In therapy I help clients to consider what’s going on for them, including their family of origin experiences, so that they can understand why they interact with others in the way that they do, can consider whether that’s hindering them, and if so, how they can learn to communicate more authentically and get what they want and need from their work and relationships. I also invite them to tell me their story, when they’re ready, to consider their childhood experiences and everything that they have experienced since then, good and bad, to help them to understand their sense of self, their “life script”, and how they might like to change it for the better (which might involve considering a new job, a new employer of an entirely different career).
The combination of gaining new perspectives about what’s going on and why, making new choices about what to do about the things you want to change, can lead to a real sense of freedom and agency, which is so important for our wellbeing: you can discover your full potential once you embrace self-compassion and free yourself from limiting beliefs and ways of communicating.
You can find out more about my therapy and fees here https://www.theexetercounsellor.com/how-it-works/ and options for contacting me here https://www.theexetercounsellor.com/contact-me/.
