A conversation with Anna Petinsky

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

  Psychotherapy is what my heart always knew it wanted to do. From the moment I read my first psychology book, I knew this is my passion. No specific event led me here, just an innate curiosity for mental health.

• Which philosophical approaches have influenced your professional development?

  So much of western psychology have roots from the east, we just label the principles a little differently. Buddhism and philosophy influence me. They are great catalysts for increasing awareness and finding alternative perspectives, an important aspect to growth. I am also drawn to existentialism and phenomenology. Cultivating a relationship with death is an important influence to how I engage with life and the way I practice, which goes well with the relational modalities of Self Psychology and Intersubjectivity that are at the core of my professional practice.

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

  I am interested in the powerful way relationships impact us as individuals. How they change us, both for better and for worse. Consciously and unconsciously. I am fascinated with what causes lasting change in us. When life has been really tough on us, and we are struggling, what is it within the relationship with a counsellor that causes a long term shift? How do we get to living a fuller life? Whilst all our journeys are different, the path to change follows the same core principles. That aspect is where my interest lies. There are several domains that study this closely. Interpersonal neurobiology, infant research and intersubjectivity theory, described as a "meta-theory" to psychoanalysis, are a few.

• What methods do you use?

  I use an integrative approach to therapy. In summary, I bring together interpersonal and relational elements from various theoretical approaches. Central to my approach is the safety I am responsible for creating between us. I listen. I really want to understand what it is like for you and I care. To listen and to care are more important than the methods that any therapist use. There are countless more or less effective counselling methods. If these methods are prioritised over genuine listening, the methods just won't work.

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

  Often clients report an immediate feeling better after a first session. Progress can then become a bit more stagnant to again leap further into the therapy work we do together. Progress is an individual thing and depends on the situation. Sometimes actually allowing yourself to feel low, can boost your ability to feel better in a way that lasts. If that makes sense.

• How has therapy made a difference in your life?

  It makes me more loving towards myself. I worry less and enjoy life's many imperfect moments more. Without the self-awareness therapy gives me, I wouldn't be the therapist I am today.

• What do you like most about being a therapist?

  Sensing or seeing change with my clients. I get very excited when we notice old patterns starting to shift. Confidence grows. It is a very satisfying feeling to be part of the richer life that client's over time start to bring into the room with me.

• Do you ever have 'bad hair' days?

  Yes, I do. If I didn't have bad hair days, I wouldn't be real. It is a part of being human.

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

  I am concerned with the western world's obsession with individuality. And how it impacts on our wellbeing and the earth we live on. Mohandas Gandi said “Interdependence is and ought to be as much the ideal as self-sufficiency. Man is a social being.” It is natural and healthy for us to depend on each other.
  
  There is also a growing tendency in society to disown our difficult experiences. I am concerned with a world where we are primed to "achieve" and “be happy”, and the complacency that comes with. With this comes the risk of getting further away from understanding and accepting our differences, which happens when we share and are heard in what is real for us.
  
  I want to contribute to a future with more meaningful connections, vulnerability and intimacy between us.

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

  I get inspiration from countless sources. The children's author Astrid Lindgren is one source. Her motto “Give the children love, love and more love, and common sense will come by itself”, is simple yet so important. As an adult, I love revisiting these books and their subtle messages. Follow Astrid's motto, and we see a lot more happiness in the world. And - we would need a lot less counselling and therapy at an adult age.