The Mountain Range of Therapy: Walking Together in Transactional Analysis
When I think about therapy, I picture a mountain range.
Each client who comes to work with me brings their own path, their own pace, and their own unique terrain. No two mountains are the same. Some paths are rocky and steep; others wind gently, circling back on themselves. Sometimes the weather clears, giving us a wide view of the horizon; other times, fog descends and the next step is all we can see.
My role as your therapist is not to drag you up the mountain or decide the route for you. Instead, I walk alongside you. Together we pay attention to your experience, the ground beneath your feet, the obstacles in the way, the stories you tell yourself about whether you can keep going. The journey itself matters just as much as reaching the summit.
The First Summit
In therapy, the first summit might represent reaching a place of insight, healing, or freedom from an old life script. Along the way, you gather tools: self-awareness, a sense of feeling more solid, helpful behaviours, and new ways of staying steady when the ground is uneven.
When we reach that summit together, it isn’t the end. Instead, we pause. We look back at how far you’ve come, noticing not just the big milestones but the quieter shifts: moments of calm where there used to be chaos, moments of choice where it felt like there was none, moments of connection where there used to be isolation. These are just as important as the peak itself.
And then we take stock of the tools and resources you’ve collected on the way up, the food, the sleeping bag, the ability to navigate terrain. These represent the strengths and inner supports you’ve built, which you now carry forward.
The Next Mountain
Beyond the first summit lies another mountain. Sometimes it’s taller, sometimes smaller, sometimes a completely different shape. Each mountain brings a new challenge and asks for different tools.
At this stage, we re-contract. We talk together about what’s next, what you want to work on, and what support you’ll need. Just as climbers adapt their gear to the conditions, in therapy we adapt our approach. What worked on one mountain might not be what’s needed on the next.
And I, as your companion, will also change along the way. Sometimes you may need me to be a steadying hand on the rope. Other times you may need me simply to walk beside you in silence. Therapy is a living, evolving relationship, and part of the work is recognising what’s needed for this stage of the journey.
The Range, Not Just the Peak
Seeing therapy as a mountain range helps us understand that growth doesn’t happen all at once, or in a straight line. It’s not about one dramatic peak experience that “fixes” everything. Instead, it’s a series of journeys, each building on the last, each taking us closer to a freer, more authentic life.
It’s also important to remember that each mountain sits within its own climate. The terrain is shaped not only by your experiences, but also by your family, community, culture, and the wider world you live in. We can’t separate your path from the environment around it and part of our work is to notice how that climate has shaped the way you walk.
And perhaps most importantly, you are not climbing alone.
If you are considering therapy, know that it isn’t about me telling you which mountains to climb or how to climb them. It’s about us finding the path together, moving at your pace, trusting the journey, and celebrating the summits, big and small, when we reach them.
