Therapies
“We teach people that they upset themselves. We can’t change the past, so we change how people are thinking, feeling and behaving today.” – Albert Ellis
My key values as a therapist incorporate openness and trust, humour and creativity, hope and optimism, as well as growth and autonomy.
Counselling
There are times when our lives can seem very complicated and confusing. You may feel like you have lost your way and don’t know where you are going? Counselling can provide opportunities to explore thoughts, feelings, hopes and concerns in a safe and comfortable environment, without the fear of being judged.
People decide to have counselling for all sorts of reasons. They may include; anxiety, depression, abuse, low self-esteem, addictions, loss, illness or disability, relationship difficulties, stress, anger, mid-life crisis, work related issues, insomnia, problems from childhood, spiritual concerns, or simply feeling overwhelmed by life. With all therapy it is essential to establish a strong working relationship between client and counsellor. The foundations of this relationship are built on certain core conditions being present namely; genuineness, acceptance and empathy.
If you choose to work with me, we’d arrange to meet at a convenient time for our first session. We would sensitively explore your issue or problem based on my experience and also your knowledge of yourself. We would then discuss and decide how best that we could work together. During these early stages we would typically agree on what you wished to gain from of our sessions and what you require from me.
I am an Accredited and Registered member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy and I work within their ethical framework.
CBT
Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) is a form of therapy which combines cognitive therapy and behaviour therapy. It focuses on how you think about the things going on in your life – your thoughts, images, beliefs and attitudes (your cognitive processes) and how this impacts on the way you behave and deal with emotional problems. It then looks at how you might change any negative patterns of thinking or behaviour that may be causing you difficulties. In turn, this can change the way you feel.
CBT can be especially useful for dealing with issues such as:
• anger
• anxiety
• depression
• drug or alcohol problems
• eating disorders
• obsessive-compulsive disorder
• phobias
• social phobia or shyness
• emotional recovery following road traffic accidents
• traumatic life events
CBT tends to be short-term, ranging from six weeks to six months. You would usually attend a session once a week and may be required to complete small pieces of work in between sessions. Alongside myself as your therapist we would explore your problems safely and develop a plan for tackling them. Through CBT you will learn a set of principles that you can apply whenever you need to. You may find them useful long after you have left therapy.
CBT generally focuses more on what is going on in the present rather than issues from the past. However, the therapy may also look at your past and how your past experiences impact on how you interpret the world now. If you chose to work with me, we’d arrange to meet at a convenient time and establish what you wished to gain from of our sessions. This information would typically allow me to provide an outline of the work that needed to be completed which could enable you to reduce or overcome problem areas.
I am an Accredited member of the British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies (BABCP) and I work within their ethical framework.
EMDR
The mind can often heal itself naturally, in the same way as the body does. Much of this natural coping mechanism occurs during sleep, particularly during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. Francine Shapiro developed Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR) in 1987, utilising this natural process in order to successfully treat Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Since then, EMDR has been used to effectively treat a wide range of mental health problems.
EMDR utilises the natural healing ability of your body. After an assessment, you will be asked specific questions about a particular disturbing memory. Eye movements, similar to those during REM sleep, will be recreated simply by asking you to watch the therapist’s finger moving backwards and forwards across your visual field. Sometimes, a bar of moving lights or headphones are used instead. The eye movements will last for a short while and then stop. You will then be asked to report back on the experiences you have had during each of these sets of eye movements. Experiences during a session may include changes in thoughts, images and feelings.
With repeated sets of eye movements, the memory tends to change in such a way that it loses its painful intensity and simply becomes a neutral memory of an event in the past. Other associated memories may also heal at the same time. This linking of related memories can lead to a dramatic and rapid improvement in many aspects of a person’s life.
In addition to its use for the treatment of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, EMDR is successfully used to work with;
• anxiety and panic attacks
• depression
• stress
• phobias
• sleep problems
• complicated grief
• addictions
• pain relief, phantom limb pain
• self-esteem and performance anxiety
Since 2013 I have been a member of EMDR Association of the UK & Ireland. I have completed Level 1-3 of the EMDR Institute training alongside Part 1-2 of the children and adolescent training alongside the Feeling State Addiction Protocol (FSAP) for addiction.
Make Your First Appointment
Taking the first step toward getting help is often the most difficult.
Why not give me a call to see if I could be the right therapist for you?