what it is

Mark Vahrmeyer and Sam Jahara founded Living at Choice Counselling, Psychotherapy and Creative Arts Therapy in order to bring together a range of complementary psychological approaches to working with clients in the Brighton & Hove area.  These include humanistic, psychoanalytic and CBT based counselling, existential and psychoanalytic psychotherapy and humanistic creative arts therapy.

Whilst each has followed a different path in the psychological approaches they employ with clients, both share common principles in how best to facilitate change with clients.  First and foremost, both Mark and Sam believe that it is the power of the relationship between client and therapist that creates the possibility for dialogue.  This relationship is unique and means walking a fine balance between supporting, guiding and challenging you, whilst respecting that you, not us, are the master of your own life.

Living at Choice can best be described as an integrative counselling, psychotherapy and creative arts therapy practice, where both partners have been trained to draw on established psychological theory to tailor their way of working with each individual client.  What this means in practice is that we will focus on establishing a trusting and safe relationship with you, explore issues from your past to understand how these may be influencing your daily life, and focus on how you make meaning and find purpose in how you live your life on a day-to-day basis. 

In working with us will not be judged for the choices you are making or have made in the past.  However, if these choices are no longer working for you, or you feel stuck in a certain way of seeing the world, we will gently guide you to find other ways of living your life and in freeing yourself from dysfunctional and painful ways of seeing yourself.