From the Therapy Room
One Year On: Reflections from Private Practice
One year ago, I opened the door to private practice.
Like many therapists, I arrived carrying years of professional experience, alongside a quiet hope that I might create a practice built on compassion, curiosity and genuine human connection.
Looking back over the past twelve months, I realise this first year has been about far more than establishing a business. It has been a year of listening, learning, growing and, perhaps most importantly, understanding myself more deeply.
Over the past year I have had the privilege of supporting people from many different walks of life. Increasingly, my work has developed around supporting neurodivergent adults, LGBTQI+ clients, and those navigating trauma, anxiety, grief, identity and life transitions.
Every client who walks through the therapy room door reminds me that no two stories are ever the same. Therapy is never about fitting people into categories. It is about creating enough safety for someone to discover who they really are.
Receiving diagnoses of ADHD and autism later in life has brought new understanding to experiences that, for many years, simply felt like part of who I was. Rather than changing me, these diagnoses have offered a new language through which to understand a lifetime of strengths, challenges and ways of experiencing the world. That perspective has deepened my empathy without changing the foundations of my work.
Professional development has continued to play an important role throughout this year. Completing my Level 5 Diploma in Gender, Relationship and Sexual Diversity has strengthened my work with LGBTQI+ clients and reinforced my commitment to providing an inclusive, affirming therapeutic space.
Alongside private practice, I have continued contributing to my local community through pro bono work and by facilitating an Acceptance and Commitment Therapy group for young women at Blackburne House Wellness Centre. Remaining connected to community has always mattered to me and continues to shape the way I practise.
Outside the therapy room, another unexpected chapter has emerged. Following my own neurodivergent diagnosis, I became a published author and am currently writing the Wired for Wonder trilogy—a reflective, semi-autobiographical memoir exploring identity, resilience and belonging.
Writing and therapy have much in common. Both ask us to slow down. Both invite curiosity. Both remind us that healing is rarely about becoming someone different, but about understanding ourselves with greater kindness.
As I begin my second year in private practice, I feel enormously grateful—to every client who has trusted me with part of their story, to colleagues whose wisdom continues to inspire me, and to everyone who has quietly encouraged me as this practice has grown.
Thank you for being part of the journey. I look forward to welcoming many more people through the door in the years ahead.
Warm regards,
Debra Kurs
Pluralistic Therapist | Hypnotherapist | Author
