Somatic & Strategic psychotherapy
Strategic Psychotherapy Tokyo
In person & Online
Strategic psyhotherapy Tokyo
A practical, goal-oriented approach that helps you understand patterns, develop new ways of responding, and move toward meaningful change.
What Is Strategic Psychotherapy?
Strategic Psychotherapy is a person-centred, proactive approach to therapy that focuses on helping people develop new ways of responding to the challenges they face.
Rather than defining people by their difficulties, the approach looks at their individual strengths, resources and patterns of response. Therapy can help you discover resources and possibilities that may not yet be accessible to you, and develop new ways of thinking, responding and acting.
The focus is not simply on understanding the problem, but on creating meaningful change and developing greater flexibility in how you navigate life’s challenges.
How Strategic Psychotherapy Works
Transform the way you think about what you experience.
Understanding the Pattern
We look at what happens when a difficulty arises: how you perceive and interpret the situation, how you respond, and which cognitive, emotional and behavioural patterns may be maintaining the problem.
Identifying What can Change
Each difficulty has its own patterns and processes to address. We identify the specific areas that may need to change and explore the resources, skills, perspectives or experiences that can be developed to help create that change.
Creating Practical Change
Rather than relying on insight alone, therapy focuses on developing and practicing new ways of responding that can be applied in everyday life.
Understanding the Difficulty
As part of my strategic training, I use the Gordian Pillars framework to identify the specific cognitive, emotional and behavioural processes involved in a particular difficulty. This helps us understand what is maintaining the problem and where therapeutic change can be most effectively focused.
What Can Strategic Psychotherapy Help With?
Strategic Psychotherapy can be helpful for a wide range of psychological and emotional difficulties. Rather than applying the same therapeutic process to every problem, we identify the specific patterns and processes involved in the difficulty you want to address and focus the therapeutic work accordingly.
Anxiety, Stress & Emotional Difficulties
- Anxiety and excessive worry
- Panic and fear
- Stress and overwhelm
- Emotional regulation difficulties
- Perfectionism and self-criticism
- Low confidence and self-esteem
Patterns, Behaviour & Life Challenges
- Procrastination and self-sabotaging patterns
- Performance anxiety
- Phobias
- Relationship difficulties
- Life transitions
- Recurring patterns that leave you feeling stuck
When several difficulties are present, we can work through them progressively, focusing on one area at a time and addressing the specific processes relevant to each difficulty.
Strategic Psychotherapy & Clinical Hypnotherapy
Strategic Psychotherapy can be used on its own or integrated with Clinical Hypnotherapy when hypnosis may be helpful within the therapeutic process.
Clinical hypnosis can provide a focused, experiential way to explore new perspectives, responses and resources. Whether hypnosis is included depends on your individual needs, therapeutic goals and how the therapy develops.
The aim is not to apply hypnosis or any other technique automatically, but to use the approach that best supports the therapeutic process.
What to Expect in a Strategic Psychotherapy Session
Sessions are conversational, active and collaborative.
We begin by clarifying what you would like to change and understanding what is currently happening. Together, we explore the patterns and processes relevant to the difficulty and identify the specific areas to address.
Depending on your needs and therapeutic goals, the process may include strategic questioning, therapeutic exercises, new ways of approaching a situation, or practical experiments to help you apply change in everyday life.
The process is adapted as therapy develops, rather than following a predetermined formula.
Is Strategic Psychotherapy Right for You?
Strategic Psychotherapy may be a good fit if you are looking for a practical and active approach to therapy, and want to understand patterns that may be maintaining the difficulty while developing new ways of responding.
You do not need to know exactly which type of therapy you need before starting. During an initial consultation, we can explore what you are experiencing, what you would like to change, and whether Strategic Psychotherapy is appropriate for your goals.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Strategic Psychotherapy the same as CBT?
Strategic Psychotherapy and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) are distinct therapeutic approaches, but CBT-informed concepts and processes are incorporated into strategic psychotherapy.
In practice, this can include identifying patterns such as avoidance, overgeneralisation, internal orientation and other cognitive and behavioural processes that may contribute to maintaining a particular difficulty.
These processes are considered within the wider strategic formulation of the individual problem, rather than being applied as a fixed CBT protocol.
Is Strategic Psychotherapy suitable for anxiety?
Yes. Strategic Psychotherapy can be used to address anxiety, worry, panic, fear, perfectionism and other patterns that may maintain emotional distress. The therapeutic approach is adapted to each person’s needs and goals.
How long does Strategic Psychotherapy take?
The length of therapy varies depending on the nature and number of difficulties you would like to address, your goals, and how you respond to the therapeutic process.
When several difficulties are present, we may address them progressively rather than trying to work on everything at once. For example, we might initially focus on anxiety, identifying and working with the specific patterns that contribute to maintaining it. Once meaningful progress has been made, we can then turn our attention to another area, such as self-esteem, perfectionism or procrastination.
This allows each difficulty to be understood in its own context and addressed according to the patterns and processes relevant to it, rather than applying the same approach to every problem.
The focus is on meaningful progress rather than following a predetermined number of sessions.
Can Strategic Psychotherapy be combined with Clinical Hypnotherapy?
Yes. Clinical Hypnotherapy can be integrated into the therapeutic process when it is considered appropriate for your needs and goals.
Is Strategic Psychotherapy available online?
Yes. I offer Strategic Psychotherapy both in person in Tokyo and online. Sessions are available in English and French.