Dr. Bruce Bradfield

Details

Display Name

Dr. Bruce Bradfield

First Name

Dr. Bruce

Last Name

Bradfield

About

Bio

Dr bruce bradfield – psychotherapist, clinical psychologist, MA, psychology (rhodes); MA, clinical psychology (rhodes); ph.D.

My approach to psychotherapy is one that prioritizes human relationships as being central to emotional health. If we are able to enter, sustain, and make good use of positive relationships, our lives generally take on a fuller, healthier, and livelier character. The relationship between a psychotherapist and a patient, between me and the person I am talking with, is just such a relationship. It is a friendship that can become central to the life of the patient but always exists on the periphery.

As a relationship between two people, the therapeutic relationship is all about trying to create enough of a feeling of trust, safety, and relaxation, for us to be able to have honest and open conversations about the patient’s real life. I believe in long term therapies because it is only with time and patience that we can truly get to know one another, and use the therapeutic relationship as a vehicle for development.

My belief is that the goal of therapy is not to feel better but to feel more. The goal is to learn how to think in a free and creative way about the things which distress us, rather than to avoid our feelings of distress. In the long term, this is an empowering and enriching achievement, enabling us to feel joy in the good times and hope in bad times.

Beyond my work as a psychotherapist, my academic research has focused on exploring the experiences of people who have been diagnosed with various forms of mental illness. This research aimed to describe the feelings that arise in people in relation to the diagnostic “label”. In addition to this, my research has focused on the intergenerational transmission of trauma, exploring the experiences of the children of mothers with histories of interpersonal trauma.

Website

brucebradfield.co.za