Registered Psychotherapist
RP, CTP Dipl
You may not know the exact reason why you are deciding to choose psychotherapy. Something may not “feel right”, you feel “stuck” in a particular pattern or behaviour, or something is blocking your effort to move forward. A part of you, a caretaking part of your self, knows that you must get help. That part knows you need someone to help you decipher what exactly is happening to you, and knows it has to be a safe place for you to be able to express these dis-pleasurable, scary, or threatening feelings and thoughts. Psychotherapy is that place where someone who is trained to listen to your needs provides an open, non-judgmental environment in which you can start to work with what’s not feeling right.
Psychotherapy is about getting to know yourself, becoming better attuned, and becoming aware of what your whole body is telling you, whether it comes in thoughts, images, or sensations. We really do have the answers within us, and having the guidance of a therapist facilitates enhanced awareness and the capacity to change.
We will work collaboratively and interactively in dialogue, focusing on you and what you would like to bring awareness to. And through this back and forth, earning each other’s trust, we will work towards creating a space that allows you to be open and even “play” (for example, cultivating creativity and curiosity) while exploring your thoughts, feelings and beliefs.
Each person possesses a unique perspective on the world, and the focus of dialogue in the therapy space concerns how you view and experience your world. This work helpfully uncovers thoughts and beliefs that you have picked up along the journey of your life. Some beliefs may be limiting, such as ones that were useful in the past in order to protect yourself, but no longer fit well with the present. My work is to reflect back to you and explore with you what you bring forward to me, allowing for a new experience to happen with this new-found awareness of yourself. We do this at a pace that suits your needs.
My journey with psychotherapy started with me seeking out a therapist because I wasn’t able to express myself in ways that I wanted. Through my therapy, I started to confront my own limitations and beliefs, and because I loved the experience of becoming more aware of myself I decided to further my journey by becoming a therapist and giving back to others.
Upon completion of my studies at the Centre for Training in Psychotherapy (CTP), I furthered my psychotherapeutic studies by completing Level I and Level II of Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, a body-oriented therapy that focuses on accessing emotions and beliefs through non-verbal expressions. This approach is important to me, for if our hope is to understand ourselves, we must appreciate that we experience the world with our whole bodies, not simply our minds.
I am always on the lookout for new perspectives and techniques to add to my practice and I continue with my personal therapy because I am still curious to know more about myself. Having a better understanding of what makes me tick helps me along my personal journey and enhances my practice.
I offer an initial no-fee 30-minute consultation in my office in Toronto to provide you the opportunity to ask any questions about how I work or about psychotherapy. This consult also gives us an opportunity to see if we work well together. To set up an initial consultation, please contact me at 416-994-5159 or email me at neilhickstherapy@gmail.com and I will get back to you as soon as I can.
202-204-St George St , Toronto, ON, M5R 2N5