Sometimes, losing the way is where our deeper journey begins
Jungian and psychospiritual approach to understanding emotional suffering, recurring patterns and the deeper question of who we are and how we wish to live.
About Me
At the heart of my work is a belief that Jungian analysis and psychotherapy are about more than relieving symptoms. Our anxiety, depression, shame, relationship difficulties or compulsive behaviours can sometimes carry a deeper meaning. They may be expressions of parts of ourselves that have been wounded, neglected or have never found a way to be heard.
My approach is deeply influenced by Jungian and psychospiritual thinking. I am interested in the whole person, our psychological and emotional life, our relationships, our bodies, our dreams and, where it is meaningful to the individual, our spiritual life and our search for meaning.
I have a particular clinical interest in eating disorders, trauma, relationships and sexual compulsivity, and I work with both individuals and couples. Whatever brings someone into therapy, I try to create a warm, compassionate and non-judgemental space where difficult experiences can be explored safely and honestly.
Jung believed that much of what shapes our lives lies beyond our immediate conscious awareness. In our work together, I may therefore draw upon dreams, active imagination, symbolism and metaphor as ways of listening to the unconscious and understanding the deeper patterns that may be influencing your life.
For me, therapy can become a process of discovering not simply what is wrong, but what is seeking to emerge.
Sometimes this involves working through trauma, loss or painful relationships. At other times it involves questions that are harder to define: Who am I? Why do I keep repeating these patterns? What gives my life meaning? What is my soul asking of me?
I am comfortable allowing these deeper questions to have a place within psychotherapy. For clients who wish to explore them, this can include spirituality, meditation, faith and our relationship with the numinous — while always respecting each person's individual beliefs, values and experience.
My Approach
With over 30 years expeience, my approach is shaped by Jungian psychology, compassion and a deep respect for each person's individual journey. I believe that our struggles can hold meaning and that, when approached with care and curiosity, even our most difficult experiences can lead us towards a deeper understanding of ourselves.
Together, we can explore the unconscious patterns that may be causing emotional distress or preventing you from feeling at peace with yourself. We can also pay close attention to trauma held within the body, as well as dreams, emotions and the deeper movements of the psyche.
My own spiritual life has taught me the importance of stillness, reflection and remaining open to the mystery of life. Where it feels meaningful for you, our work can therefore make space for questions of spirituality, faith, meditation, the soul and our relationship with the numinous or divine. I do not impose a particular spiritual belief; rather, I believe therapy can help us discover a more authentic relationship with who we are and what gives our life meaning.
Whether you are experiencing depression, anxiety, trauma, relationship difficulties, eating problems, compulsive behaviour, or simply a sense that something within your life needs to change, I offer a warm and thoughtful space in which we can explore this together.
Get in touch to arrange an initial consultation for psychotherapy or Jungian analysis in Headley near Epsom, Chepstow, Bath or online.
How I Work
Short-term work (several weeks) focusing on a specific issue, like relationships or anxiety, that provides a set of tools you can use to understand what causes these problems and how you can move towards managing/resolving them. Most time individuals come for short term work and end up staying longer because they find meaning and support through their psychological exploration.
Works with the impact of trauma from both early childhood and recent events. We will look at what has happened to you, as opposed to what is wrong with you. My focus is on compassionate listening and understanding rather than making a diagnosis, creating the environment you need to understand the role of trauma in your life and overcome the emotional challenges you face. Psychotherapy is usually once or twice a week.
Long-term work, this could be having three to four sessions per week, during which we will bring unconscious elements of your psyche into a more balanced relationship with conscious awareness and experience. Working in this way helps you discover meaning, understand the origins of issues like anxiety and/or depression, mature your personality and feel more aligned with your spirit. This is very much connected to Soul work.
We all hope to find meaning in our life. Some people seek it through food, sex, alcohol, drugs, or relationships, only to end up feeling empty. You may feel like there is a deadness to your inner life. Soul work is a journey to discover the unconscious patterns that prevent us from living truly in the present, with a view towards metabolising your disturbed unconscious states and, in turn, facilitating the process of personal and spiritual growth. I use meditation as part of my work – particularly Heart Meditation, as this helps to deal with inner wounds that leave us feeling paralysed.
Finding meaning is what bring people to any therapeutic work but searching and exploring the ‘divine’ within us is the way to reconnect to what has been missing in our lives.
For more information you can visit surreycentreforcounselling.com and surreycentreforeatingdisorders.com.
U.K.C.P Registered Supervisor
Specialist Clinical Supervision
Addiction, complex presentations and the life of the treatment team
Working with addiction can place extraordinary demands on those who provide treatment. When addiction sits alongside other mental health difficulties, the complexity is felt throughout the service—in clinical decisions, relationships between colleagues, boundaries and the pressures carried by leadership.
Sometimes a team finds itself divided, exhausted or caught in recurring difficulties despite considerable skill and commitment. These experiences deserve careful attention. They may tell us something about the suffering being brought into treatment, and how the organisation is responding to it.
Experience of the whole system
I bring 35 years of experience in running, managing and providing clinical direction for addiction treatment centres. My supervision draws on this experience alongside my work as a Jungian analyst, bringing psychological depth to the practical realities of clinical responsibility and organisational life.
I offer specialist supervision for clinicians, teams and clinical leaders working with addiction and complex co-occurring difficulties. Together, we consider the patient’s experience, the relationships surrounding their care, and the wider system in which treatment takes place.
When the whole system is “in treatment”
Addiction does not leave the treatment team untouched. The urgency, helplessness, secrecy, anger and longing for rescue surrounding a patient’s difficulties can become part of the emotional life of a service.
A team may feel compelled to rescue, struggle to maintain boundaries, or become caught between exceptional hope and profound frustration. Colleagues can find themselves occupying opposing positions, each carrying a part of the picture that has become difficult to hold together.
From this perspective, the whole system is, in a sense, “in treatment”: everyone involved is affected, and those responses become material for understanding.
Supervision creates space to recognise these dynamics, think about their meaning and recover the capacity to respond thoughtfully.
Making room for the shadow
A Jungian approach pays particular attention to the shadow: the feelings, motives and vulnerabilities that sit outside our preferred image of ourselves.
In caring organisations, anger, rivalry, helplessness, the wish to control and the need to be needed can be especially difficult to acknowledge. Unrecognised, they may shape clinical decisions and relationships. Approached with honesty and care, they can deepen our understanding of the work.
My approach is compassionate and challenging. I help teams bring difficult experiences into conversation without turning reflection into blame. The task is to understand what is being enacted, what has become difficult to say, and what needs to change.
What we can work with
Supervision may focus on:
- Addiction alongside complex mental health difficulties and repeated treatment impasses.
- Divisions within teams, including conflict around risk, boundaries and responsibility.
- Rescue dynamics, over-involvement, withdrawal and loss of therapeutic hope.
- The emotional demands carried by clinical directors and service managers.
- Recurring organisational patterns that affect the capacity to provide thoughtful, consistent care.
The purpose is practical: to help clinicians and teams regain perspective, strengthen clinical judgement and work together with greater clarity.
By attending to the dis-ease addiction can evoke throughout a service, supervision can help restore the conditions in which treatment becomes possible.
Enquire about supervision
If you are seeking supervision for your own clinical work, your team or the service you lead, please get in touch. We can discuss the challenges you are facing and how I might help.
Pricing & Location
I work from the Old Village School House located in Church Lane, Headley near Epsom in Surrey – a serene, secluded space where you can be sure of absolute privacy. I also have rooms in Central Bath on Tuesdays and Chepstow on Mondays and Fridays. You can also book online if you prefer.
• Initial assessment appointment, £125 (55 minutes)
• Further sessions, £125 (55 minutes)
I provide a limited number of spaces for students and low-income clients.
Sessions are usually weekly, but if you are looking for more frequent support, I can see you up to four times a week. Please contact me for more information.
Get in touch
If you have any questions or would like to arrange an initial assessment appointment for psychotherapy or analysis feel free to call me on 07941 281025.
We can have a brief, strictly confidential conversation about your reasons for seeking support and how I may be able to help you.
All enquires are usually answered within 24 hours, and all contact is strictly confidential.
©2022 Alan Bore
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