Gemma Grainger

I think the attraction came after I realised I was kind of already doing it.

I have a strong memory of being sat in the car with my Mum one afternoon.

She always has worked in palliative, and end-of-life care and she drew my attention to the fact that I could be of real help to her and her team, and the lack of proper counselling offered to her patients and their families currently. Something clicked that day.

I think like many other therapists, we've always been therapists to our friends and families, and now we have the training.

I did my Psychology undergraduate degree at Cardiff university, and then I trained at University of East London on their counselling and psychotherapy course. It was an integrative course and I really recommend it for the process and great tutors.

I chose my studies really carefully to avoid narrowing my choices. I also know where my weaker areas for studying lie- in Biology for example, so was careful to avoid a heavily biological-based approach when training.

People are so individual, and different methods appeal to different people. Not only that, the same person can appreciate and grow from different methods at different times in their lives, and different issues that they present.

Together, with my client, we identify the focus and how we can help make that better, An integrative approach means we can go more solution-focused if we need to, or we can explore elements from their past in a more exploratory way if we think that that will be helpful.

It's a dynamic and collaborative approach, but it all stems from listening to what is going on for my client in the present.

As an integrative therapist, it is very easy to default to a CBT focus when starting to work with a client who experiences anxiety.

From my experience, allowing them the space to air their anxieties, be heard, acknowledge and accept them, learn about the normal and maladaptive elements, where they might originate in their lifeline, and then continue to talk about this ongoing process is actually the most helpful thing they can do.

Often I will offer some more CBT-focused exercises or ways of talking about their anxiety, but generally, I find that the talking process alone does a lot of healing.

Being a young female therapist I do often see people within my own demographic.

I also interestingly see a lot of 30-45-year-old male clients. With both groups, the main themes emerging surround identity and understanding themselves and their place in the world. Confidence is a huge recurring theme too.

I love the interaction with all the different types of people. I love building relationships and watching them evolve. I love the moments when you realise a connection has been formed and I can start to challenge more confidently and relaxedly.

I also do treasure the moments when a client discloses something they say they have never told anyone else. That really does feel special.

That the relationships don't go beyond the therapy hour and the therapy room. Often an email or text between sessions will indicate the connection beyond the restrictions, and having to question every reply as to not break those boundaries can be tiresome and tricky.

Headspace and Calm I often refer to.

Usually, I refer to psychological researchers for the client to Google rather than books, and sometimes I will find summaries of their theories to send on if I think it can be helpful. I recently sent the Ainsworth Attachment Theory to a client, that's a commonly useful one.

Other than my own personal therapy, I use Calm to help me sleep, I exercise a few times a week, and I go for walks.

My favourite new thing at the moment is taking a flask of tea and riding the bus through London- that's very therapeutic.

Shoreditch is full of new dynamic companies, there are a lot of co-working spaces like WeWork and they tend to be flexible with their working hours, often they will offer a well-being scheme so it is actually encouraged that their employees take a break and come to therapy.

There are a lot of creative people here and a lot of tech here, and that impacts the types of clients I will often fill my days seeing.