Ashley Thomson

A conversation with Ashley Thomson

• What led you to choose psychotherapy or counselling as a profession?

  Seeing a psychotherapist changed my life, and not just once. Having had such a profound experience, I found I wanted to understand how it worked. I felt that I had found a missing piece in understanding what it takes to 'show up' with resilience and stability, first for oneself and then for others and broader goals. The thought of bringing this capacity for resilience and sturdiness to others has deep appeal for me.

• Which philosophical approaches have influenced your professional development?

  I have a natural affinity with the 'person-centred' approach pioneered by Carl Rogers, who believed that people have an innate 'self-actualising' tendency. In his view the therapist's role is simply to be present, empathetic and show positive regard. This allows the client's true self to emerge.
  
  I am also guided by classic psychoanalytic thinkers. I respect their theories of mind, and I resonate with the significance they place on early experience, early attachments, repressions and resistances, and the good/bad 'objects' we inherit from others. I think strong theoretical models, held loosely, are essential for consistent, productive work and hold the greatest potential for insight and healing.

• Which particular aspects of health or the human journey are you interested in?

  I have a background in medical anthropology, which focuses attention on the ways that social constructs like race, gender, ability, wealth and sexuality contribute to conceptions of health and illness. That health and illness are relational, dynamic and always being negotiated is core to my worldview. What this means for my therapeutic practice is that I will always seek to understand the individual in their environment.

• What methods do you use?

  My primary method is conversational, and in conversation with clients I will pay attention not simply to what is said, but also what is not said, what the body may be saying, and how things are said, the better to befriend and understand whatever unconscious impulses may be present.

• When do you think the client will start to feel that progress is being made?

  I believe we should know from our first session with a therapist whether they are the right fit for us. I hope my clients will feel a sense of progress, even simply a new feeling of clarity, from the first session.

• How has therapy made a difference in your life?

  The ways are too many to name but put simply: I know who I am now.

• What do you like most about being a therapist?

  Being a therapist is an always-renewing invitation to live an examined life and to build my capacity to 'be for others'. This perpetual return to self-examination and the work of being kind and present in relation to others is a source of great meaning for me.

• Do you ever have 'bad hair' days?

  Of course! Most days, to be honest. But in learning to accept myself as I am, I've come to understand my potential and my value are in no way diminished on those days.

• What do you think is the most significant problem we face, in the world today?

  I find this an incredibly difficult question to answer, and not because answers don't come to mind: genocide, imperial colonialism, global warming, the ongoing pandemic, fascism, transphobia, the neoliberal consensus, militarised police, etc. But at the level of the individual psyche, I may be most troubled by how diminished people's sense of their capacity to organise, collectivise and make change has become. I am not, however, pessimistic about this: I believe this can change and is in fact already changing.

• Can you share the name of a book, film, song, event or work of art that inspires you?

  The music of Adrienne Lenker and Big Thief is a big source of comfort and inspiration.