What Is Integrative Therapy? A Personalised Approach to Healing

When you start exploring therapy options, you'll encounter many different approaches: CBT, psychodynamic, person-centred, Gestalt, and dozens more. Each has its strengths, and each works well for certain people and issues.

But what if you didn't have to choose just one?

Integrative therapy draws from multiple therapeutic traditions, tailoring the approach to each individual client. Rather than fitting you into a predetermined framework, it adapts to meet your unique needs.

What Makes Integrative Therapy Different

Traditional therapy training often focuses on a single modality. A CBT therapist primarily uses cognitive-behavioural techniques; a psychodynamic therapist focuses on unconscious patterns and past experiences.

Integrative therapists are trained in multiple approaches and draw from them flexibly. This might mean:

• Using cognitive techniques to address anxious thinking patterns
• Exploring childhood experiences to understand relationship difficulties
• Incorporating body-based work to process trauma
• Applying existential perspectives when exploring questions of meaning

The specific combination depends entirely on you—your presenting concerns, your personality, what resonates with you, and what helps you change.

The Approaches I Draw From

In my practice, I integrate several therapeutic traditions:

Humanistic Therapy

At the core of my work is a humanistic orientation. This means I believe in your inherent capacity for growth and self-direction. My role isn't to fix you or tell you what to do, but to provide conditions that support your own healing process.

This includes offering unconditional positive regard, genuine empathy, and authenticity in our relationship.

Relational Therapy

How we relate to others is shaped by our earliest experiences and continues to influence our lives. Relational therapy pays attention to patterns in relationships—including the therapeutic relationship itself—as a path to understanding and change.

Gestalt Therapy

Gestalt therapy emphasises present-moment awareness and direct experience. Rather than just talking about feelings, Gestalt techniques help you actually feel them in the room, leading to deeper insight and integration.

Psychodynamic Elements

Understanding how past experiences influence present behaviour can be illuminating. I draw on psychodynamic ideas when exploring how your history shapes current patterns, while keeping the focus on what's useful for you today.

Cognitive-Behavioural Techniques

Sometimes practical, skills-based approaches are exactly what's needed. CBT techniques for managing anxiety, challenging unhelpful thoughts, or changing behaviours can be valuable tools within broader integrative work.

Transpersonal Perspectives

For some clients, questions of meaning, spirituality, or connection to something larger are central to their wellbeing. Transpersonal approaches honour these dimensions of human experience.

How Integration Works in Practice

Integration isn't about randomly mixing techniques. It's a thoughtful process guided by your needs and our developing understanding of what helps you.

Here's what this might look like:

In the early sessions, we focus on building our relationship and understanding your concerns. I'm listening not just to what you're saying, but to how you're saying it—noticing what seems to resonate, what feels difficult, and what you might need.

As we work together, I'll draw on different approaches based on what emerges. If we're exploring a painful memory, I might use techniques to help you stay grounded. If you're stuck in rumination, we might look at thought patterns. If you're struggling to identify your feelings, experiential techniques can help.

Throughout our work, I'll check in about what's helping and what isn't. Therapy should feel collaborative, and your feedback shapes how we proceed.

Who Benefits from Integrative Therapy?

Integrative therapy can be helpful for a wide range of concerns:

• Anxiety and depression: Drawing on multiple approaches means we can address both the symptoms and the underlying causes.

• Relationship difficulties: Understanding relational patterns while developing new ways of connecting.

• Trauma: Integrating body-based approaches with talk therapy for more complete healing.

• Life transitions: Combining practical coping strategies with deeper exploration of meaning and identity.

• Personal growth: For those who want to understand themselves better and live more authentically.

The Therapeutic Relationship Matters Most

Research consistently shows that the quality of the therapeutic relationship is the strongest predictor of positive outcomes—more important than the specific techniques used.

This is why integrative therapy emphasises the relationship first. The techniques are tools, but the relationship is the foundation that makes healing possible.

When you feel genuinely understood, accepted, and supported, you can begin to explore difficult territory. You can take risks, try new ways of being, and gradually develop a more compassionate relationship with yourself.

Is Integrative Therapy Right for You?

Integrative therapy might be a good fit if you:

• Want a personalised approach rather than a one-size-fits-all method
• Have complex or multiple concerns
• Value both insight and practical skills
• Want to understand yourself more deeply while also making concrete changes
• Appreciate flexibility and collaboration in therapy

The best way to know is to try it. An initial consultation gives you a sense of how we might work together and whether the approach feels right for you.

If you're curious about how integrative therapy could help you, get in touch to arrange an initial consultation.