A View of a Room

'Moving to a new workspace - therapy room - 'down the road' in east London from Dalston to Bethnal Green - has led me to reflect on the importance of place. My clients' reactions have been varied and very interesting, from curiosity and even a touch of excitement to apprehension that the new room wouldn't feel the same, or at least familiar and safe enough.

Some of the people I work with literally said goodbye to the old room, saying it had meant a lot to them as the place where they'd shared and explored memories, experiences and hopes, celebrated or mourned, and grown in self-understanding and self-compassion.

Others were endearingly upfront in their curiosity about the new space, and confident it'd perform the same function in their lives as the previous one.

For some clients it's now a longer and more complicated journey, for others it's easier, and many have commented on the feelings triggered by coming to a different neighbourhood that may be new to them or bring back memories from their past.

I carefully furnished the new space to incorporate familiar furniture and objects as well as new. Nearly everyone has spotted and commented on books or pictures they know well from before.

For some clients who I've worked with long term, who have had many moves of home and work during that time, that room has been the one constant in terms of place.

Taking a little time to reflect on how place affects us emotionally, as well as practically, can be a fascinating thing to do'.