My approach

This is a brief summary of my basic approach and philosophy

The first thing you should know is that in my work as a psychotherapist I try to engage the person or people who employ my services, no matter what the issues that brought them into therapy, in an open, serious and reflective conversation about themselves, their lives, struggles, relationships, fears and hopes.

I believe that healthy relationships are grounded in open, honest, sensitive and self-reflective communication. People usually find that talking as openly as they can about themselves with a trained and experienced listener, who works hard at not making fast and easy judgments, can feel liberating and ultimately therapeutic. Sometimes this openness may be happening for the first time. I think we can too easily become trapped in a sense of there being too many things in our lives we cannot talk about. Therapy can help alter this feeling.

I believe that too much isolation can lead to mental health difficulties. Living in a foreign culture and language can be a particularly isolating experience. Therapy (group in particular) can help greatly reduce the sense that I'm alone with my struggles. We learn that it really and truly helps to involve others.

I believe that people are social through and through. In practice this means that I will try and help people situate themselves in both the world in which they currently live as well as the world in which they grew up. You learn from this that you are not alone with what you are experiencing and that what you are experiencing has roots in a wider world. Group therapy is particularly helpful in this regard. If interested, you can read more of my thoughts in my article Why Group Therapy.

I have no fixed idea of how long therapy should take. Apart from group therapy, which is a weekly commitment, I do not insist on a fixed frequency of meeting. Some people decide to attend weekly, others fortnightly, others more infrequently - according to their particular time commitments and financial circumstances. The sliding-scale of fees that I offer for individual therapy, which I believe to be reasonable and fair, is based on my commitment to therapy being accesible and non-elitist. Group therapy, in particular, manages the trick of being both highly effective and low-cost. From the very start of working together, I will seek to involve you, the client, in shaping the work we do together.

Individual sessions last an hour. Group therapy sessions 90 minutes.

For clients who live too far away from central Barcelona or who for whatever reason are unable to get to my office (e.g., unfortunately I have no access for disabled clients) I offer online therapy, usually through the Zoom platform.

I have a long history of working with clients from many different cultures and nationalities. I work hard at avoiding stereotyping and limiting people on the basis of their gender, sexuality, race and religion.

My practice is grounded in offering complete confidentiality. This means I will guard your identity in any professional discussion. I would never contact other professionals about you without first receiving your prior permission. My office is secure, private and comfortable. Plus, I will usually see you at the time we agree.

Finally, although, I specialize in psychodynamic and group analytic approaches to psychotherapy, I would say that my approach is essentially eclectic, pragmatic and flexible, grounded in a broad base of theory and practice.

I strongly recommend you visit my CV and membership pages to find out more about my current and past work. I maintain a high level of continuing professional development and pay close attention to new developments in the big and complex world of psychotherapy.

Peter Zelaskowski
peterzelaskowski@gmail.com
(0034) 628 915 040