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 & 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 & how fast we go. I meet you where you are – I offer reflective perspectives, therapeutic tools & interventions (like EMDR, IFS, Art Therapy, Schema Therapy, etc.). You choose what you want to adopt into our work together.
2. Holistic Psychotherapy
= our therapy journey connects with the wholeness that you are, which is totally unique & entirely multidimensional
To meet you in your entirety, I offer you a myriad of perspectives, therapeutic exercises, tools, visualisations, meditations/breathers, resources… (the list goes on because I’m incredibly passionate about psychology – I’m continuously reading up, undergoing further trainings & workshops). To be seen just as you are (an intricate being with unique needs, interests & experiences) is powerful. To be attuned to just as you are, without having to do anything, is incredibly healing.
3. Trauma-Informed Therapy
= our therapy journey is trauma-informed
Trauma changes our neurobiology (the neurochemical sequences that cause negative valence reactions, prune & therefore shape our neural networks). Trauma can be ’T’ or ’t’, driven from abuse, neglect, being a witness to violence, catastrophes, bullying, difficult deaths, polarising attachment figures etc. When we experience a very stressful experience, our bodies go into survival mode – our prefrontal cortex goes offline, our limbic system & 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 (think: a tangled net). This manifests in compensatory behaviours we do in order to not repeat that pain (eg. taking on perfectionism, because the instability in your parent’s relationship was so out of your control & 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 & Reprocessing), level I & II – according to the World Health Organisation, this is the optimal treatment for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. I also use approaches from Internal Family Systems therapy & Schema Therapy to further the processing of painful experiences.
4. Anti-Racist, Anti-Ableist, LGBTQIA+ & 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 & love. Honouring the uniqueness of your brain. Being queer person of colour, 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 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 & Eastern Psychotherapy
= our therapy journey weaves in schools of thought, based on what you connect the most with
Our therapy is built on the foundation of evidence-based psychological protocols, underscored neurobiology (mind-body interaction), models of attachment & the polyvagal theory.
That being said – if you want to peep into your subconscious by interpreting dreams, weave the Taoist perspective or consider Indigenous wisdom & intuition, I’m game. Given that I’m a cultural melting pot of Western & Eastern influences, I can offer these approaches to you. I adapt to you and your needs.
Ishana Durante Bose 