It is February 2021 and I am reviewing this web page. In January 2003 my brother died and a picture was commissioned by his wife to represent him. The artist knew my brother and a copy of her picture is in my counselling room. Her picture became the end point of my MA dissertation, on ‘Insight as a Praxis for Change in Therapy’.

Writing that piece of work opened doors that were slammed shut. The idea that ‘A Ha’ or eureka moments can be purposeful and based on valid experience has become a fundamental tool to my work now in 2021.

I have come to learn and trust that science, experience, spirituality and wisdom can all, in equal measure, contribute to therapy.

In 2013 when my Counselling and Psychotherapy was first born it was obvious it should be called ‘Insightfulness’. I have been astonished by my own journey deeper into Buddhism and meditation, which has only served to highlight ‘insight’ as something to cultivate.

Neuroscience has identified an area in the brain, the right superior temporal gyrus, as responsible for insight. The science has also discovered that, for insight to be most useful and accessible, other external stimulation is turned down. Our optic nerve, for example, is less sensitive. This corresponds profoundly with the effects of meditation, which enable the brain to focus on stimuli without being distracted or reactive to them.

Learning to meditate has enhanced my ability to hear and respond to clients in a neutral and compassionate way, focusing on their needs and experience, and allowing them to grow in a way and at a pace which is sustainable and nurturing.