APPROACH
Depth Oriented Therapy for Understanding and Change
How I Work
Most therapy begins by addressing what is most pressing: the symptom, the crisis, or the pattern causing the most disruption.
Depth psychology work does this (of course we do) but we extend beyond this to also explore the underlying/unconscious patterns, stories, early-life experiences and nervous-system responses that may sit beneath what is happening now.
This work is valuable and often exactly what is needed — experiential work that creates meaningful shifts and lasting change.
Rather than just symptom alleviation, we look at what keeps the pattern in place: the protective strategies that once made sense, the stories inherited from family and culture, the relationships that shaped what you expect from people, and the meanings you have made of your own life. The deeper work is where we begin to create a different story and a different way of being — one in which old patterns have less power over what happens next.
There are also common human experiences that we share, across the world, across ages and times; We are all infinitely special and not special at all.
I often say that some therapy is about helping you out of the river. Depth-oriented, experiential work also asks why you keep falling in — and helping you stay on the dry in the first place.
What Therapy with Kristi May Involve
Parts and protective patterns - Internal Family Systems
We explore the different impulses, fears and protective strategies operating within you — without treating any part of you as an enemy. The part that sabotages the thing you want is usually trying to keep you safe by outdated rules.
Story, meaning and depth - CBT but with depth and a more existential flavour
We examine inherited stories, assumptions, relationship patterns and meanings that shape how you experience yourself and the world — including the ones absorbed so early they feel like facts.
Compassion-focused work
We work directly with shame, threat and self-criticism, developing a more stable and workable relationship with yourself. For many people this is the most rewarding part.
Body and nervous-system awareness
We pay attention to physical experience, emotion and regulation — not only intellectual interpretation. Insight that stays in the head often struggles to hold. We make feelings and sensations more safe and tolerable.
EMDR, TRTP
Therapy in a trauma informed space takes skill and training. I have trained and studied trauma informed methods that aid in the treatment of PTSD.
Understanding of Neurodivergence
I have a deep understanding and lived experience of neurodivergence. I have worked with man clients with ADHD and ASD, PDA. I can provide education, understanding and support for the common concerns that often come with a diagnosis.
My approach is collaborative and tailored to the individual and evolves to suit your needs.
Evidence and Meaning: I am the Bridge
“I believe in science — and I leave room for mystery.”
Psychology is a clinical discipline, but therapy also encounters questions that cannot be reduced to a checklist: identity, grief, belonging, purpose, contradiction and the stories through which a person understands a life. My work remains grounded in psychological training, professional ethics and collaborative treatment. It also leaves room for imagery, metaphor, dreams, ritual, creativity and spiritual questions when these are meaningful to the client. Where it suits the client and the therapeutic process, imagery, cards, objects or creative prompts may be used to help externalise an experience or explore different interpretations.