To learn more about me and my approach to therapy, please watch this short 5 minute video: tinyurl.com/4848yeyr ~ In my experience, the quality of the therapeutic relationship, that special bond between client and therapist, is key to change and progress. Your intuitive 'feel' for me, as you read my profile, should therefore be your first touchstone to see if I can help. With this as a base, your trust in yourself, and in me, will guide the course of our therapy moving forward.
About me and my practice
As an integrative therapist, I believe in an existential-analytic approach to emotional suffering. My training and clinical experience suggest to me that the 'symptoms' clients enter therapy for help with are meaningfully connected with deeper existential dilemmas. It is shortsighted to view things like anxiety, depression, phobias and more as 'diseases of the mind', 'disorders', or even 'irrational patterns of thought, feeling and behaviour'. First and foremost they are forms of suffering, linked with real and valid (if sometimes hard to understand) problems in living. Fundamental human concerns around which you (consciously or otherwise) are sensitive, and have developed responses to:
"I regard mental illness as the 'way out' that the free organism in its total unity, invents in order to be able to live through an intolerable situation."
~Jean-Paul Sartre, in Reason and Violence by Laing & Cooper~
This can result in many complex, painful, and seemingly inescapable forms of stuckness. A new source of turmoil, rather than a real solution to one's deeper problems. The hope in therapy is therefore to invite space for change in how you approach your life situation. To begin forming a curious and self-compassionate attitude toward your own suffering, in partnership with me, the therapist. So that together, we can come to explore the possible meaning and function of your symptoms. With growing understanding and resilience, a path then opens for the client to free themselves up for other less painful, and more authentic ways to emotionally respond to life's deepest concerns. Throughout this shared journey, I will support your courage and self-reflection, as you discover a way of being that truly feels right for you.
Experience
I have been supporting the emotional wellbeing of people with varied needs for the past seven years, and have been practicing existential-analytic psychotherapy specifically for the past three years. Throughout this period, my clients have included children and adults with learning difficulties; neurotypical adolescents, college and university students; as well as older adult psychiatric inpatients. Detailed information about my employment history can be found here (linkedin.com/in/alexander-jozavi-12652b5b/).
Across these diverse experiences, my clients have taught me the importance of the concept of 'sonder', which informs my private practice: Sonder Psychotherapy Surrey. Sonder describes the fundamental existential truth that despite how it may appear from the outside, each and every one of us inhabits an infinitely rich, unique, and complex life. One that blends an inner personal world, with a shared external world. As a client, it is a special act of trust and generosity to allow someone else into that world. And as a therapist, it is my duty to respond to this act with respect and care, sharing the insights and experiences from my own world to help you in yours.
I hope that over the course of our therapeutic relationship we never forget this lesson of sonder.
Qualifications
BA (hons) Psychology, Philosophy & Physiology (PPP) - Oxford University
PgDip Existential Psychology & Psychotherapy - Middlesex University (The New School of Psychotherapy & Counselling)
(Current) Postgraduate Training in Daseinsanalysis & Daseinsanalytic Psychotherapy - The Daseinsanalytic Seminar - Society for Hermeneutic Anthropology & Daseinsanalysis (Zurich)
NCFE/CACHE Levels 1-3 Diploma in Interpersonal Counselling Skills - Guildford College (Activate Learning)
Additional Information
Although this counselling directory mainly caters to online therapy, I am also available to see clients face-to-face if this is convenient for you.
I run my private practice from a spacious, sound-proofed, heated and air-conditioned log cabin outside of my home, which is around five minutes away from Frensham Little Pond, Surrey. We can discuss the possibility of face-to-face sessions if you would like to explore this option.
Professional Membership
Registered Member MBACP
Professional Register
British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP)
Verified by Counsellingo on Thursday, 23 November 2023
Initial Consultation
I suggest the following arrangement for therapy. If by the end of our first session you do not feel that we would fit well together, then we can agree to part ways on friendly terms and I will waive my usual fee entirely. If on the other hand you feel there may be something promising, and would like to continue working together, then I will charge as normal and we can continue from there. I believe this is the best way to empower my clients to trust in their intuitive 'feel' for what may be helpful for them.
Fees
£50 per session
When I Work
Please reach out to me via my email or mobile contact details to discuss session timing.
Therapeutic Approach
Existential-Analytic Therapy
Video Platforms
Whereby
Pronouns
He/Him
Area
Surrey