This Trusted Place with John-Paul Davies: Mental Health, Therapy & Becoming a Therapist
🎙️ Welcome to This Trusted Place with John-Paul Davies
Honest conversations and reflections on mental health, emotional wellbeing, and the realities of becoming and being a therapist in private practice.
Whether you're a therapist, aspiring to become one, or simply someone curious about the inner world of emotional growth and healing, this podcast offers grounded insights and personal stories that connect.
Hosted by John-Paul Davies, a former City solicitor who retrained as a psychotherapist in 2007, the show explores:
- Changing careers into therapy
- What it’s really like being a therapist and making a living as a helping professional
- Mental health and emotional wellbeing topics inc. relationships, narcissism, trauma, navigating imposter syndrome and burnout, boundaries, self-worth and growth
- Bisexuality
🔗 Watch the video versions on YouTube: youtube.com/@JohnPaulDaviesTTP
🌐 More about John-Paul: thistrustedplace.co.uk
If you enjoy the podcast, please subscribe and leave a rating or review — it makes a big difference. Thank you for listening.
This Trusted Place with John-Paul Davies: Mental Health, Therapy & Becoming a Therapist
S5 | E10 Exploring Therapy, Spirituality, and Addictions: A Conversation with Susan McGrath
In this latest instalment of my conversation series, I sit down with experienced therapist Susan McGrath to discuss her unique approach to therapy, particularly focusing on the transpersonal and spiritual aspects of mental health. Susan has extensive experience working with addictions and dependencies, including her use of the 12 Step Programme. We talk about her perspectives on the profession, her 'bugbears,' and her occasional ambivalence about the field, all while acknowledging the great honour and responsibility of being someone’s therapist.
Our conversation covers a wide range of topics, offering valuable insights into the complex world of therapy and the challenges that come with working in this profession. Susan’s reflections provide a fascinating look at the intersection of spirituality, mental health, and addiction recovery.
Particular topics include:
- Susan’s turning point in life (journey becoming a therapist)
- Training to be a therapist 28 years ago
- Susan’s experience with therapy training
- Susan’s current practice, an overview
- Navigating the idea of ‘God’ and ‘Spirituality’ in therapy
- Comments around addiction (drinking, drugs, etc)
- Susan’s one ‘criticism’ about therapy
- Motivation for becoming a therapist
- If Susan stopped being a therapist tomorrow...
- What Susan & John Paul think of being therapists (how they like it)
- Working with ‘types’ of people
- Therapy “isn’t for everyone”
- Tips for someone coming into the profession (a discussion about pay levels in therapy)
- Susan’s future plans
- Final words, how to get in touch with Susan
If you find this podcast helpful, please feel free to share it, don't forget to follow the channel to show your support, it would be much appreciated and please do feel free to subscribe to my YouTube channel more content like this! Thank you, John-Paul
YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/@JohnPaulDaviesTTP
If there’s anything else you’d like to know about John-Paul and how he might be able to help you, please do contact him via his website www.thistrustedplace.co.uk