I'm Sam De Gruchy, a BACP-registered Integrative Therapist practising in Brighton and online
The purpose and intention of my work is to provide a space that truly promotes your healing and growth as a person, instilling trust, meaning and confidence in both your personal experience and the collective space around you. Whatever difficulties you might currently be facing, big or small, therapy is a dedicated space where you are fully welcome to arrive just as you are. My commitment to you is to support you in working through and releasing challenging thoughts, memories and emotions - nurturing a greater clarity, confidence and compassionate understanding of yourself.
I believe understanding and becoming our authentic selves is one of the principle underlying drives in being a person, one fully worthy of our attention and dedication.
welcome
'“The truth will set you free” - the difficulty is that our own subjective truths can often times be obscure (even to ourselves) - or may have been shut down in response to the words or actions of those around us. Experiences of vulnerability to date have often been challenging, traumatic or hurtful, leading to further fear being our authentic selves. I offer a nurturing space to undo this process, to explore your authenticity with courage, choice and compassion - and to release difficult emotions or patterns that may currently be working overtime to protect you.
My intention is to be caring, patient and compassionate towards how things are for you right now, whilst at the same time aiming up in collaboration toward your authentic potential.
I’m Integrative therapist, with a relational and person-centred focus.
Integrative: flexibility and a dynamic approach, integrating several therapeutic modalities. It is rooted in our collective humanness, tailored to your personal experience. I support clients with a wide range of difficulties including anxiety, anger, depression, self-esteem, relationships, life direction, identity, existential and spiritual difficulties.
Relational: embracing that therapy takes place in relationship between two real people - because a genuine relationship creates the space for the real you to continue to emerge and be seen. The therapeutic alliance between therapist and client is the fertile ground in which you can grow in true self-confidence in yourself and in relation to others.
Person-centred: trust in your individual process and respecting your autonomy. I believe each person has the right to self-determine their own process and life choices, and my practice is rooted in this humanistic principle. We recognise that though engaging with therapeutic support, you remain the expert of your own experience, cultivating a sense of self increasingly available to you outside and beyond therapy.
Together we balance support for what arises in your life week to week, with a compassionate exploration of deeper material either current or past - paying careful and respectful attention to both.
Way of working
Advanced Diploma in Counselling - Heartwood Counselling and Psychotherapy (accredited by National Counselling and Psychotherapy Society)
MSc Psychological Studies (with Merit) -University of Glasgow (accredited by British Psychological Society)
Foundation Certificate in Psychotherapy & Counselling - Regent's University
BA History (with Hons) - University of Exeter
Registered member of the BACP - British Association of Counsellors and Psychotherapists
Affiliate member of IPT - Institute of Psychedelic Therapy