“Life is filled with unanswered questions, but it is the courage to seek those answers that continues to give meaning to life”

From the very beginning Gregory’s focus will be put on safety in the room as a base for building trust and good rapport. This is a priority for Gregory in working with his clients. Creating a secure foundation for people in a client – therapist relationship was a subject of Gregory’s literature review.

The psychotherapy ends at any time when the client doesn’t need Gregory’s support.
However, Gregory always encourages the final closing session with his client to finish the therapeutic relationship with a mutual sense of completion.

Research into psychotherapy shows the importance of optimism, hopefulness and resilience as factors that support recovery in clients with anxiety, depression and trauma.
Growing Heart therapy has many resourcing skills that are included in Gestalt Therapy and Resource Therapy.

Some of the resourcing strategies would include:
– holding the hope,
– increasing relational support (Gestalt Therapy),
– developing and strengthening client’s resources (Resource Therapy),
– encouraging a mindful attitude (Gestalt Therapy),
– developing self-nurture and self-compassion (Healing ‘Inner Child’),
– reorienting to positive experience.

As you learn to access your own inner resources you will begin to see more clearly and feel more empowered.
You will begin to find a deeper level of understanding of yourself thus affecting your own physical and emotional health and your relationships.

A client who presents with depression will often describe miserableness, loss of energy and absence of motivation. There will be also symptoms of loss of enjoyment or meaning in life, negative thinking, chronic pain and disturbed patterns of sleep and appetite.
Gregory will stay curious about your “depressive” process and will constantly invite you to discover more of yourself. During therapeutic sessions the following areas (interventions) will be implemented:
– increasing self and relational support,
– challenging limiting beliefs,
– identifying unfinished business,
– identifying and working with grief,
– raising energy.

The anxious client can experience bodily tension, palpitations, sick feelings in the stomach, increased heart-rate, shallow breathing and often intolerable feelings of fear and agitation in the absence of any real, here-and-now threat.
This is usually provoked by fearful thoughts or beliefs. It is important to know whether the client’s experience of anxiety is a chronic state or whether it dates from a particular time.
There are also several different types of anxiety, which will be investigated during the sessions with the client.

The following interventions will be implicated:
– managing the symptoms,
– identifying anxious beliefs,
– attending to body process,
– working with the relational dynamics.

The Gestalt modality is the foundation of ‘Growing Heart’ therapy practice.
Research shows that Gestalt Therapy is an effective treatment for working with anxiety and depression and has a larger life-enhancing effect in the treatment of depression compared to some other modalities (Watson et al., 2003)

Anxiety and depression are responses to life circumstances that seem unmanageable or overwhelming.
Depressive response is to withdraw, isolate and shut down whereases anxious reactions is to over-mobilize, worry and agitate.
Both responses usually involve negative beliefs or attitudes and loss of connection or control.
There is also a sense of hopelessness and diminished capacity to function competently and live a satisfying life.

Each of us was once a child that we all still have living within us. Unfortunately, most adults are not aware of that. Lack of conscious connection to our own ‘Inner child’ can cause many behavioural, emotional and relational issues.

To become adults, we’ve learnt usually from our parents that our ‘Inner Child’ – representing our capacity for innocence, wonder, awe, joy, sensitivity and playfulness – must be stifled or secluded. Consequently, our ‘Inner Child’ has been denied, disparaged, abandoned and rejected. The ‘Inner Child’ contains and potentiates all our forgotten positive resources, but it also holds our accumulated childhood wounds, traumas fears and angers, which can be healed in a safe and supportive environment.

Healing ‘Inner Child’ is discovering your authentic self, understanding what is in the way of you connecting and committing to your needs and wants.
In Growing Heart therapy, using mindfulness techniques, self-awareness skills and much more we will:

• Discover and practice being our ‘Inner Child’.
• Identify our ongoing physical, mental, emotional and spiritual needs and practice getting these needs met with safe and supportive people.
• Identify, re-experience and grieve the pain of our traumas that was never processed before.
• Identify and work through our core issues and learn how can we re-parent the ‘Inner Child’…. Give our ‘Inner Child’ what others can’t…

As you start to listen to your own ‘Inner Child’ you begin to feel heard. You distance yourself from old messages and emotional loops and the old wounds that you have carried can finally begin to heal. As you move along with the process you will begin to receive new messages based on truth and eventually will begin to trust in your own inner guidance. When you choose to align yourself with the truth you begin to honour who you truly are.
The more you learn to trust yourself the less likely it is that you will give your power away to others.

Gregory is originally from Poland; hence he can also provide service in Polish language.
Gregory has an experience in working with people of different nationality; therefore, he can use simple and understandable language.
In Growing Heart therapy, the importance is put on the process and impact that the therapist and his client make on each other. Eloquence and fluency are of secondary importance.

During the sessions Gregory uses his creativity, depending on context and each client’s personality. Together they will evaluate what is happening now and what is needed as a result.

Gregory will strive to understand his clients’ inner world and their subjective experience of their life.
The main focus will be on:
– How you live your life?
– Who you are, in relationship with others?
– What is your relationship with yourself like?
– How you make/break contact with people?
– What are your patterns in making your choices in your life?

New awareness will facilitate clients’ learning—new understandings, new ways of thinking, of communicating with others and managing emotions.

Finally, Gregory will support his clients in practicing their new skills, adopting new habits and new ways of moving in new directions in their life.

Mindfulness will be practiced through every stage of ‘Growing Heart’ therapy.

Psychotherapy sessions happen weekly as this provides a good balance between relational consistency and the opportunity to assimilate and integrate the work.

Gregory suggests an initial short-term contract of 4 sessions to build the secure ground for future work and enable his clients to have a sense of what is like to work with his therapeutic style and personality.

These four initial sessions also give Gregory and his client a chance to have a better understanding of their situation and based on that, makes some predictions as to how long the client may need to be in therapy.

First introductory session is for 90 minutes and the subsequent ones last per 1 hour.

Gestalt Therapy is the foundation of Growing Heart therapy.
Other modalities will be applied depending on the needs arising for the client in a here-and-now moment.
Growing Heart therapy is very intuitive, creative and a spontaneous process which is influenced by what is happening in the ‘here and now’ between the client and therapist in a counselling room.

• Counselling generally refers to short-term consultation and is more concerned with practical or immediate issues and outcomes.

• Psychotherapy is a longer-term, evolutionary process focused on helping a person to understand their life in a profound and reflective manner.

Gregory will focus on understanding your needs; therefore it is really helpful to know what is this that you really want to achieve from the therapy.

Contract in psychotherapy gives the basis and agreement to start work. It also defines boundaries and limits so that the client will know when Gregory is available, what is he offering and what is he not offering.
After identifying the client’s presenting issue(s), the number of sessions, frequency, time, fee and confidentiality will be thoroughly contracted.
Confidentiality and cancelation policy will be included in a short ‘client form’ that will be given to the client prior to see the therapist.