What is Counselling & Psychotherapy?
Both Counselling & Psychotherapy come under the umbrella of talking therapies although other methods may be used – for example, mindfulness, sand tray, art, music, movement, and more. Counselling usually refers to shorter-term support for clients experiencing a specific difficulty, as psychotherapy is usually more longer-term for clients experiencing deeper psychological difficulties.
Whether you would like counselling or psychotherapy, this is a safe space for you to share what has been troubling you and for us to work together to explore further. The aim of therapy is for you to expand your understanding and gain greater insight into how you see the problems you are facing. My role is to tailor my work to your needs and together find strategies that may be most effective and helpful for you. My hope is also to build a good therapeutic relationship with you by providing a calm, safe, non-judgmental, empathic, space for you to feel able to open up. Therapy enables you to explore issues that may be getting in the way of you achieving your long-term goals. I work with a variety of concerns.
Some areas of therapy I work with are listed below
But not limited to
Abortion, Abandonment, Abuse, Addiction, ADHD, Affairs and betrayals, Anger management, Anxiety, Attachment issues, Behaviour problems, Bereavement, Bullying, Burnout, Cancer, Career counselling, Carer support, Childhood bereavement, Childhood bullying, Childless not by choice, Christian Counselling, Chronic fatigue syndrome/ME, Chronic illness, Depression, Disabilities, Discrimination, Dissociation, Emotional abuse, Family issues, Feeling sad, Health anxiety, High sensitivity, Infertility, LGBTQ+ counselling, Loneliness, Low mood, Low self-confidence, Low self-esteem, Loss, Menopause, Mental health, Miscarriage, Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), Older people's counselling , Panic attacks, Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), Complex PTSD, Postnatal depression, Redundancy, Relationship problems, Self-harm, Separation and divorce, Separation anxiety, Social anxiety, Stress, Trauma, Work-related stress.
If what you are experiencing is not on this list, let's have a chat to see if I can be of help to you.
Therapeutic approaches
These are some approaches to therapy I draw from;
Integrative
Counselling
Integrative counselling looks at the whole person, taking into account your mental, physical and emotional needs. Your therapist will use techniques and tools from different modalities to tailor an individual approach for you.
An integrative counsellor aims to build a trusting and non-judgmental relationship that helps you develop self-awareness. When you understand the causes of your concerns or triggers for your behaviour, you can confidently set goals and develop new behaviours to improve your satisfaction with life (BACP).
Person Centred
Therapy
Person or client-centred therapy is based on the view that everyone has the capacity and desire for personal growth and change, given the right conditions. Rather than being seen as the expert and directing the therapy, the counsellor offers unconditional positive regard, empathy and congruence to help you come to terms with any negative feelings and to change and develop in your own way (BACP).
Psychodynamic
Therapy
The psychodynamic approach is derived from psychoanalysis, but focuses on immediate problems to try to provide a quicker solution. It stresses the importance of the unconscious and past experience in shaping current behaviour. A therapist will aim to build an accepting and trusting relationship, encouraging you to talk about your childhood relationships with your parents and other significant people. It also uses similar techniques to psychotherapy, including free association, interpretation and especially transference, where feelings you experienced in previous significant relationships are projected onto the therapist (BACP).
Existential
Psychotherapy
Existential psychotherapy explores the inner conflict and anxiety people may experience when confronted with life's ultimate concerns, such as the inevitability of death, freedom and its responsibilities, isolation and meaninglessness.
Existentialists believe that life has no essential (given) meaning and that you have to make your own sense of the world. Counsellors can help you confront your anxieties and negative thoughts, enabling you to make decisions about how to live life and deal with life problems in your own way (BACP).
Creative Therapy
Creative therapy includes a wide range of techniques which can help you find a way of expressing yourself beyond words or traditional talking therapies. It can include visual arts therapy, writing, sand play, dance movement therapy, drama therapy and music therapy. Therapists may use different approaches at different times to suit the needs of the client (BACP).
Therapy
Cognitive Behaviour
CBT aims to help you change the way you think (cognitive) and what you do (behaviour). Rather than looking at past causes, it focuses on current problems and practical solutions to help you feel better now.
The way we think about situations affects the way we feel and behave. If we view a situation negatively, we may experience negative emotions and feelings which lead us to behave in an unhelpful way. Your therapist will help you identify and challenge any negative thinking so you can deal with situations better and behave in a more positive way
CBT can be helpful for depression, anxiety, stress, phobias, obsessions, eating disorders and managing long term conditions (BACP).