Ms Tania Djipalo

A conversation with Tania Djipalo

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

  I believe we all have a unique gift to offer the world. It was in my own pursuit of peace and purpose I became interested in therapy. Firstly I received it and then I became interested in becoming a therapist. When a close family friend committed suicide, this propelled me to join Lifeline and that's when I began to learn how to sit with someone in distress. Since then I have continued on to study a Diploma in Counselling, then a Masters in Gestalt.

• Which philosophical approaches have influenced your professional development?

  The most significant training and philosophy is my Gestalt training. It has literally given me a relationship with myself. I also have a deep connection to Rudolf Steiner and Anthroposophy, which has taught me the value of freedom as a guiding principle. This guides my work to see where in our lives we are unfree. Living in patriarchal society we have bathed in the soup of this conditioning. If we want to truly be free and conscious individuals we must identify our conditioning and choose differently. Our world today is needing us all to do this work and each individual's work creates a better world environment.

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

  The whole journey of life interests me, no matter if you choose to have children or not, partnered or alone, I value the whole experience of each individuals journey. We are all here to learn and grow, part of the eco-system of life, connected as social beings. I am interested in helping people find their true voice and living consciously, lovingly and relationally. I am very passionate to help couples find a way to each other through kindness, bravery, responsibility and through the principal of growing together.

• What methods do you use?

  I offer a safe, supported and confidential space for you to explore your issues at the pace you need to go, trusting in your inner healer to guide us together. We will explore how you live life by increasing self-awareness, to move beyond rigid and fixed ways of being. This process provides clarity on what prevents us to live a life with freedom and joy. Essentially life is quite simple. Be present to the present moment, become curious about it and learn to accept it. A lot of our problems in life come about because we are not responding to the present moment but from the past and past conditioning.
  
  I work in the present moment, this is where the potential for change and transformation occurs. I will be your companion on your journey inwards, supporting you towards self-awareness.
  
  Sandplay therapy is useful for adults, adolescents and especially for trauma, it offers a bridge between our inner and outer worlds when language is often unavailable.
  

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

  I have often experienced my clients feeling lighter and more spacious in their lives quite quickly. Having a space dedicated to you with a supportive person creates the potential for powerful change and transformation. Developing emotional agility is a natural outcome of therapy that provides agency for change.

• How has therapy made a difference in your life?

  I now consult myself when making decisions in life, I have emotional agility and can go with the flow. I also am able to process difficult situations and sit with difficult feelings. Most importantly I have support in my life to do this both inwardly and outwardly.

• What do you like most about being a therapist?

  The therapeutic space is a place where you can put down your masks and have permission to be real. I value the relational realness of the therapeutic space and feel privileged to be a part of this process.

• Do you ever have 'bad hair' days?

  Yes I do, but I longer have to be perfect to show up to life. I can also tend to my fragile parts and make sure I ring a friend or be extra kind and loving with myself and show up to life.

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

  We need connection more than ever, with ourselves, with our loved ones, our communities and the beautiful natural world around us. Connection with nature is an easy natural way for us all to feel more nourished. How do we manage to hold onto hope when it all feels hopeless and out of our control? We all play an important part in our own local eco-systems and can be part of the change that the world so desperately needs. We can't control others but we can take self-responsibility to change the things we can. The AA saying says it all:
  
  "(God) Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can and wisdom to know the difference"

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

  I adore the movie "The Age of Adeline" for the wonderful meaning about change that it offers.
  
  Victor Frankl "Mans Search for Meaning" A very small and unimposing book about the power imagining a better life whilst living in a Nazi concentration camp.
  
  Watching the Israel National Dance Company Bathsheva's Anaphase, I ended up shaving my head the next day, to try to break out of the monotony of modern life. Dance theatre is powerful.
  
  
  Too many books to mention.