MEET THE TEAM – SYLVIE DEROCHE

What is your favourite thing about being therapist?

The intense and intimate connection we develop with clients over the weeks. I feel this is a privilege to be let in people’s lives the way we are in therapy. Over time, this creates a space where we can think, explore, understand, heal and in turn, every one of my clients, whether they are couples, or individuals inspire me to always learn more.

What is the most common/frequent issue people are bringing to therapy?

Personally, I’ve found that the difficulty of facing loss is what brings most people to therapy. That can take so many forms. It may be the painful passing of a loved one. However, people often bring less obvious losses, those that emerge from changes. For example, leaving behind a house, a job, a life project, or having to face the end of a relationship. Some losses, unexpectedly, emerge from happy events, for example the birth of a first child: how do we manage the loss of the life we had before? Ageing also make people reflect on the loss of their youth. And during this pandemic, all of us had to reflect on the loss of a life we took for granted.

Is therapy an art or a science?

Both!

What do you do for your own self-care?

I look after my family; they look after me. I walk with my dog. And I run, and I bike.

What is the book/movie that comforts you?

Any book written by Boris Cyrulnik, the French neurologist and psychiatrist.

What’s in a joke?  

Happy moments we should cultivate and hold close.

Tell us one:

A Freud one then: I don’t want to be forever Jung.