There's a lot to be said for the simple paper boat.

Most of us learned to make paper boats as children. To me, they speak to our earliest experiences, our imaginations, and our sense of wonder, curiosity, and play. In my work, making contact with the child within us and attending to what was shaped early in life are important parts of therapy.

Paper boats span both culture and time. They've played important symbolic roles in rituals and festivals for thousands of years: of hope; of solace; to placate and to guide; and to bridge the gap between the living and the dead. The Ancient Egyptians floated paper boats on the Nile to symbolise the journey to the afterlife; in today's China, Japan, India, and Brazil, paper boats laden with candles still light the way for lost souls, represent home-coming, or cast collective hopes and wishes out to a generous universe. In this way, a paper boat represents both the shore and the open sea-- our origin and our journey, the past and the future, the 'here' and the 'there'. It's a liminal object which represents the conflict we so often feel between the instinct to stay with what's familiar, and the desire that pulls us towards the unknown. Its universality and ancient beginnings evoke Jung's collective unconscious, a tenet of my approach to therapeutic work. Paper boats are something we all understand.

Paper boats journey on water, suggesting movement and change and the navigating of life itself. In Jungian psychology, water represents the unconscious. Much of my work focuses on listening to what lies beneath awareness — images, feelings, and patterns that influence our lives. 

Finally: a paper boat is fragile, but when folded with care, it can be surprisingly strong. A simple, even crumpled piece of paper can be transformed into something both beautiful and resilient. I see therapy in a similar way: working with how you have adapted, and supporting the strength that has already been formed.

In these ways, the image of a paper boat reflects the kind of therapy I strive to offer.