Writers’ Process Therapy

WHAT’S GETTING IN YOUR WAY…?

Are you a writer or storyteller, or wish you could be?
Do you ever find yourself struggling to get your writing off the ground?
Do you have blocks around your writing process?
As a writer, or as someone who wants to be a writer, do you worry that you can never be good enough?


Writers’ Process Therapy (WPT) offers writers a space to explore your process, identify and remove blocks, and relish your creative potential. As an experienced editor and accredited psychotherapist, I created WPT in order to provide a unique combination of skills, tools and approach to support your personal and professional development. Suitable for all writers, whether you’ve published award-winning bestsellers or are just starting out.

FEE:

£90 for a 50-minute session online | £105 face-to-face in central London (W2)
Some concessions are available — don’t hesitate to ask.

ABOUT WRITERS’ PROCESS THERAPY:

Having worked with writers as an editor for fifteen years and then training as a psychotherapist, I realised there’s a specific need for a safe, confidential therapeutic space for writers to be able to explore their creative projects, process and the issues that come with that particular calling in life. These sessions are suitable whether you’re published, established and successful, just starting out, or feeling like an impostor for even wanting to try.

What’s often not understood is the link between our minds or personal story and what’s happening on the page. These sessions offer writers a chance to look at what’s getting in your way, and also what’s trying to emerge.

Your reason for wanting a session might include:

  • A plot, character or theme that’s feeling stuck or complicated (you might suspect your own material or mind is overlapping with the story)

  • Exploring blocks

  • Confidence problems, inner critic, impostor syndrome

  • Struggling to pin down the core/heart of the story or book you’re trying to write

  • “Second novel syndrome” (if you don’t know what this means, you likely don’t have the problem!)

  • The many and various pressures that come with getting an agent, publisher or book deal…

  • … and the many and various pressures that come if you don’t have an agent, publisher or book deal

Former clients (see below) have reported feeling more confident and energised creatively, knowing themselves better, and feeling reassured after being able to share some of what’s often a deeply personal, private and vulnerable process. Whether you’re paying for yourself or have been gifted a session by an agent or publisher, these sessions are always completely confidential and bound by the same ethical standards as my psychotherapy practice. You can be free from personal/business conflicts whilst also talking to someone who knows the business from the inside.

Although we might look at plot points and characters, these sessions are held through a therapeutic lens and different from working with me as an editor. To work with me editorially, please enquire. Please note that in order to keep this work as safe as possible, I’m unable to provide both services to one individual.

WPT is also suitable for other artists, agents and editors who want to explore their creative process and issues.

WHAT PEOPLE SAY ABOUT THESE SESSIONS:

Helen Thomas, warm and wise, has the uncanny ability to make you relaxed in her company almost instantly, and possesses that rarest of gifts: listening. She can draw stuff out of you that you didn't know was there. I sat down with her for a 'chat' about creativity and soon found myself pouring out my soul and confessing my deepest fears as a writer. All writers are insecure at heart, and Helen has the wisdom and compassion to know when and how far to push.

— Niall McArdle, award-winning writer and poet

To be honest, I didn’t believe in psychotherapy or creative counselling until I met Helen. I didn’t really feel like my session would yield anything: I didn’t really have a problem! Sure, I doubt my writing, but that comes and goes, as is true for many, but I didn’t feel “blocked”. So, imagine my surprise when my session with Helen illuminated for myself what’s most important to me when it comes to the writing life, and this knowledge about myself has changed me permanently and for the better. Helen has a gift for creating and holding space, not just between her and the writer or for the writer, but she is able to open space within yourself to feel what’s most important to you and make it tangible in your body. Most people try to “help” by asking you what’s wrong? or what do you want? or are you happy? (terrible question!). Not Helen. She begins with the now, the present, the very moment we are in, and that’s powerful. Thanks to Helen, I know what’s most important for me to lead a writing kind of life and what nurtures my writing spirit. I now also know specifically what it is that I mean when I say, “I feel like myself”. These are not problems I had nor solutions I was looking for; these illuminated inner truths were such a natural part of my being, that I wasn’t even aware of them. And now that I am, they are at the forefront of my writing journey, empowered with clarity, not losing sight of what sustains me as a writer. That we can be transformed without overthinking our feelings, is a gift that Helen shares abundantly.

— Annie Q. Syed, reader, writer, teacher

I can’t recommend Helen Thomas highly enough as a creative psychotherapist. Working one-to-one, she helped me to identify obstacles that were holding me back from where I needed to be creatively, and was able to offer solutions for changing that pattern. As a person, she is tremendously warm and empathic, easy to talk to and encouraging. Sometimes you need a nudge to see things that really you already know, and I found that Helen had an ability to hone in on and articulate things I couldn’t. This has given me clarity and a fresh perspective, and I'm very grateful for her keen insight.

— A.O.

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN WRITERS’ PROCESS THERAPY AND TRADITIONAL PSYCHOTHERAPY:

There are clear crossovers between these sessions and psychotherapy. Both are intended to be a safe, supportive, non-judgemental and confidential space. The difference is length, focus and goal. For these sessions, we might meet just once, for a short period of time, or on an ad hoc basis, and our focus will be on your project/creativity, with the goal of strengthening and nourishing that area of your life.

During a first session we’ll discuss what you’re looking for and tailor the work to suit your wants and needs. If the work reveals itself to be of a more personal or sensitive nature, or includes a broader issue, it may be necessary for us to set up therapeutic boundaries to make sure you stay safe and that the work is within ethical guidelines.

On occasion, we may uncover a need or desire for more structured therapeutic work, in which case we will discuss whether it would be appropriate to work with me in that way, or I’d be happy to refer you to another therapist.

These sessions might not be suitable for everyone. Please do get in touch to discuss whether they’d be right for you.