Therapy Isn’t About Fixing You. It’s About Understanding You

Many people come to therapy thinking something needs to be fixed. That they’re broken, or doing life wrong, or missing some essential tool that everyone else seems to have. It’s a quiet belief that often sits just underneath the surface: "If I could just sort myself out, I’d be okay."

But therapy isn’t about sorting yourself out. At least not in the way many people think.

We Live in a Culture Obsessed with Self-Improvement

We’re constantly encouraged to optimise, improve, push through. When we struggle, the pressure is often to fix it fast and move on. So it makes sense that many people arrive at therapy wanting tools, strategies, solutions.

And while there can be a place for that, deeper therapeutic work doesn’t start with fixing. It starts with understanding.

Understanding Is What Creates Change

In my work as a therapist, I see again and again that the problems we bring to therapy often have roots far deeper than we expect. Patterns of self-doubt, shame, withdrawal, anger or over-functioning usually make sense when we begin to explore where they came from.

When we’re given space to speak freely — without judgement, without pressure to be "better" — something shifts. We begin to hear ourselves differently. We start to recognise the quiet logic behind our behaviour. What once felt like a personal failure often turns out to be a long-standing adaptation. A kind of emotional survival strategy.

And in that recognition, real change becomes possible. Not because we’ve forced it. But because we’ve understood it.

This Is the Heart of Psychodynamic Therapy

Psychodynamic therapy is about looking beneath the surface. It’s less about "fixing symptoms" and more about uncovering the emotional patterns that shape our lives. It invites curiosity, not judgement. Depth, not quick fixes.

You might find yourself saying things you didn’t know you thought. Making connections you hadn’t seen before. Feeling emotions you usually keep out of reach. And in that space, you start to come into closer contact with your real experience.

That’s what helps things shift. That’s what makes things make sense.

You're Not Broken — You're Complex

If you've ever felt like you're too much, not enough, or simply "wrong" in some unnameable way, therapy can offer something different. Not a fix. But a relationship where you can begin to be seen and understood in a way you may never have been before.

And often, that’s what heals.

Working Together

I’m a psychodynamic therapist based in London, working with adults who are ready to move beyond coping and start understanding. Many of the people I work with have spent years trying to "fix" themselves. Therapy is where we start to get curious instead.

If you’d like to talk, you’re welcome to get in touch for an initial conversation.