Psychotherapy & Counselling

Focus of Psychotherapy

Psychotherapy may involve working with a wide range of presenting issues which may present themselves either in the form of symptoms, difficulties in relationships, or poor sense of self and poor outlook on life. However, rather than focusing directly on the distress itself, the focus of the treatment tends to be on the underlying causes. The roots are rarely immediately available to awareness, so the role of psychotherapy is to bring them into awareness and work through them.

At the level of symptoms, one may be presenting with anxiety, depression, a sense of loneliness or aloneness, feelings of despair and hopelessness, meaninglessness or purposeless, various forms of addiction, self-harm, self-sabotage and self-defeat, issues with anger and aggression, obsessive-compulsive features, traits of eating disorders, excessive or lack of sexual interest, etc.

Poor sense of self and issues with self-esteem, sometimes in the form of fluctuations, are often part of one’s distress. This may range from self-criticism to an experience of internal emptiness or confusion and may be accompanied by a sense of disorientation, lack of initiative to commit to meaningful life goals, or a sense of feeling lost.

Relationship difficulties are often the result of one’s internal world. These may range from dependency and codependency, difficulties with authority and avoidance of conflict, fears of abandonment and rejection, losing oneself in relationships, clinging, rejecting or feeling rejected, reoccurring patterns of abusive and manipulative relationships, a pattern of continuously failed relationships, issues with commitment, or relationships that are unfulfilling and where one feels nonexistent or unseen.

Origins of these difficulties can often be found in one’s adverse experiences in early life, such as developmental or childhood trauma or other adverse childhood experiences. Such experiences are not always related to overt trauma and may stem from more subtle adverse experiences, including neglect, emotional trauma or merely the parenting style that a person was subject to.

The focus of the treatment will normally be on the emotional wounds, often inflicted in the past, however, wounds that may cause immense distress in one’s present life.

Ales provides multilingual psychotherapy in the following languages: English, Slovenian, Croatian.

Online Therapy

Modern technology furthered the development of online psychotherapy practice in recent years. Nonetheless, online therapy has its specifics.

Ales specialises in online psychotherapy, working with clients internationally.

Approach and Philosophy

Our psyche is to an extent developed as a response to the difficult experiences and hardship presented to us by our lives—the earlier they arose, the more they will tend to be impactful and destressing for us today. These difficulties and painful experiences do not necessarily need to be associated with overt trauma. They may be subtle and unnoticed, but when ongoing, their impact may be devastating. Social, economic, environmental, familial, cultural, and financial factors are those outside of immediate developmental trauma but often an important contributing factor.

To cope with the pain, our minds have created adaptive mechanisms which may themselves cause distress. They often influence the way we see ourselves, others, and experience the world. Depending on their severity, they may be highly adaptive or maladaptive, but impacting our lives both through difficulties that we may see (e.g., a sense of self-worth, anxiety, depression, eating disorders, etc.), but also in ways that we often are not aware of (e.g., engaging in unhealthy relationships, impulsivity, irrational fears, experiencing others as manipulative, exploitative, threatening, etc.).

Much of this internal psychological process takes place out of awareness, so the connection between our day-to-day distress and the underlying residue of the past pain remains unconscious. Recurring patterns of behaviour, thinking, and engaging in relationships may develop that may be painful and puzzling.

The role of psychotherapy is to search for these hidden connections, bring them to light, and update the outdated coping mechanisms.

Because each individual’s psyche has developed based on a number of unique experiences, some of the historically prevailing models of diagnosing and treating these difficulties as characteristic disorders may be insufficient in the attempt to address the root causes. On the other hand, abandoning the outdated models should not be done in a haste, but through reasoning grounded in evidence base. Such reasoning needs to underpin both the diagnostic process and subsequent clinical treatment.

What is the process of initial assessment and diagnosis?

Thorough assessment of presenting issues is an essential element of treatment. Initial assessment takes place in two separate 50-minute sessions, focusing on the analysis of the presenting issues, what underpins them, and the discussion about the potential further treatment.
What is the duration and frequency of sessions?

Depending on the presenting issues and the set goals of therapy, the treatment will take place once or twice per week in 50-minute sessions.
Is treatment in-person or can it be online?

The treatment can either take place in-person or online. Online treatment can either be in the form of a combination of in-person and online sessions, or it can take place entirely online, which may be the case if you are based in another country or travel frequently.
What is the treatment frame?

Treatment frame determines the conditions and terms of psychotherapy. The basic terms are predetermined and are normally universal for all clients, whilst other terms may be set depending on the needs of the treatment.
What are the treatment options in terms of the duration of therapy?

Psychotherapy is a process that is tailor-made, depending on your presenting issues and your goals. As such, the duration of the process will vary as well. Short-term therapy will usually last from 6-12 sessions. The focus of brief treatments is predominantly on symptom relief and stabilisation of general functioning while the underlying personality dynamics are normally not addressed. Mid-term therapy may last from a few months to a year. This is where the focus may be on symptomatic changes and some changes to your relationship patterns. Long-term therapy is more common. This is where the focus of the treatment might be on deeper changes in personality functioning and the sense of self.
Is there an option of receiving therapy in other languages.

Yes. Therapy can take place in English, Slovenian, or Croatian.