Rowan Druce Psychotherapist and Counsellor

Rowan Druce | Counsellor and Psychotherapist

I have lived many lives and shed many skins. From working as an industrial abseiler, construction worker, telecommunications rigger, stage rigger, and working on wind turbines, power stations, gas platforms and iron ore mines. From my times building a mud brick house, working as a painter through to working as a social worker, I have always been interested in the people I meet and work with. I have spent many years also turning inwards and working to unravel the mystery that lies within. Now I wish to help bear the torch, like others did for me, to help people explore their own inner worlds. I work at Waratah Holistic Health in Katoomba.

Qualifications and Accreditation

Psychology in orbit

Psychotherapy and Processwork

I practice using Processwork (Process Oriented Psychology), which is a body-oriented approach focused on a person’s here-and-now sensory-grounded experience. As a simple distinction, the varieties of different psychotherapy approaches can be divided into two main arms. Those therapies that take the unconscious/subconscious seriously, and those that do not. Many of the contemporary approaches such as CBT/DBT (Or most of the other therapies that use an acronym) do not treat the unconscious/subconscious as a potential healing resource.

Processwork fits into the branch of therapies that takes the unconscious/subconscious as the pathway to real healing and change. It is guided by the belief that by bringing unconscious or subconscious processes into awareness, helps a person understand themself and create the necessary changes that become apparent in that process. In this way, the healing is authentic and guided by the persons genuine desire to change in the ways that they have discovered for themselves. Processwork is a a type of depth psychology and has origins in Jungian Analytical psychology. Processwork expands on Carl Jung’s theory to include additional attention being paid to information present in the body.

Psychology in orbit

Noetic

Noetic or ‘Nous’ is a Greek word referring to a type of direct knowing or implicit understanding of an eternal truth. Or, as William James, the philosopher and psychologist defined noetic quality “They are states of insight into depths of truth unplumbed by the discursive intellect. They are illuminations, revelations, full of significance and importance, all inarticulate though they remain; and as a rule, they carry with them a curious sense of authority for after-time.”

Every person is capable of noetic insight as it is the truth lying hidden in plain view in every experience. It is the role of the Noetic counsellor to help a person navigate their way to this hidden knowing. Noetic insights allow for profound healing and change because of the very fact they are the person’s very own truth. The counsellor has no place in giving answers or solutions to someone else. The role of the counsellor is to help explore a person’s inner world by standing by their side, bearing a torch. In this way a person can safely immerse themself in their own inner world and discover the very truth they already hold.

psychologist in orbit

Evidence Based Practice

Evidence based practice is a term that actually means manualised therapy. Meaning, the therapy needs to be implemented in the specific manner the manual outlines for the therapist. Evidence based practice ignores a person’s unique individual experience, and instead, assumes that every presentation of a particular mental health condition (such as anxiety or depression) can be considered the same problem and solved with the same solution. Whilst studying my degree in psychological science, I learnt about this major flaw in the logic that underpins evidence based practice.

Additionally, when I looked closely at the actual scientific studies being used as evidence, the research showed that evidence based practice hardly works. Shedler (2010) outlines this lack of meaningful evidence in the journal article linked below. Instead of applying universal solutions, I work directly with a person’s lived experiences beyond simplified labels such as depression and anxiety. By exploring more fully the lived experiences of being depressed, or feeling anxious, genuine personal solutions arise naturally and authentically, and hold a truth that is evident in the moment they are realised.

Where Is the Evidence for “Evidence-Based ” Therapy?
Jonathan Shedler, PhD