ABOUT THERAPIES

COGNITIVE BEHAVIOUR THERAPY (CBT)

CBT is a talking therapy which is an active, directive, time limited and structured approach, that treats a variety of psychiatric disorders (eg. depression, anxiety, phobias, etc). It is based on an underlying theoretical rationale that an individual's affect and behaviour are largely determined by the way in which they structure the world. Their cognitions (verbal or pictorial events in an individuals stream of consciousness) are based on attitudes or assumptions developed from previous experiences.

CBT works by helping you make sense of over whelming problems by breaking them down into smaller parts.

CBT may focus on what is going on in the present rather than what has hapened in the past. However, therapy may also look at how past experiences are having an impact on your life now.

Research has shown that CBT can be as effective as medication in treating depression and other mental health problems. Compared with other talking therapies, CBT can also be completed within a relatively short period of time.

COGNITIVE THERAPY INCLUDING MINDFULNESS

Cognitive Therapy including Mindfulness helps you to become more aware of our thoughts and feelings so you are able to manage them. It combines relaxation, breathing exercises and meditations from Mindfulness Therapy with elements from Cognitive Behaviour Therapy to help break the negative and dysfunctional thought patterns associated with depression, anxiety or emotional distress.

You will learn how to wake up from autopilot by seeing, tasting, smelling and touching to really start living life rather than just rushing through it. You will discover how living mindfully allows you to see things more clearly, moving from reacting to responding. You will develop an understanding about 'being' and 'doing' modes and how to remain present and not lost in mental time travel.

Finally, you will learn how to have compassion for yourself.

PSYCHOTHERAPEUTIC COUNSELLING

Psychotherapeutic Counselling comes from the core model of Transactional analysis (TA) which is a widely recognised form of modern psychology that involves a set of practical conceptual tools designed to promote personal growth and change. It is considered a fundamental therapy for well-being and for helping individuals to reach their full potential in all aspects of life.

In counselling TA therapy is very versatile, for it can be used in a wide range of areas and incorporates key themes from humanistic, integrative, psychoanalytical, psychodynamic therapies. Though it is commonly recognised as a brief and solution-focused approach, transactional analysis can also be applied as an effective long-term, in-depth therapy .

Founded by Eric Berne in the late 1950s, TA therapy is based on the theory that each person has three ego states: parent, adult and child. These are used along with other key transactional analysis concepts, tools and models to analyse how individuals communicate and identify what interaction is needed for a better outcome.

Throughout therapy, the TA therapist will work directly on here and now problem solving behaviours, whilst helping clients to develop day-to-day tools for finding constructive creative solutions. The ultimate goal is to ensure clients regain absolute autonomy over their lives. Eric Berne defines this autonomy as the recovery of three vital human capacities - spontaneity, awareness and intimacy.

MINDFULNESS THERAPY

Mindfulness is developed by gently learning how to pay attention to the present moment, on purpose and without judgment, to things as they are. The core of this therapy is mindfulness meditation. Mindfulness also brings a new way of knowing - a direct, experiential, intuitive knowing. This new way of knowing will help you move past feeling trapped in ruminative thinking.

Mindfulness meditation has been shown to affect how the brain works and even its structure. People undertaking mindfulness training have shown increased activity in the area of the brain associated with positive emotion – the pre-frontal cortex – which is generally less active in people who are depressed.

EMDR

EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing) is a psychological treatment method developed by an American clinical psychologist, Dr Francine Shapiro, in the 1980s. As a Senior Research Fellow at the Mental Research Institute, she published the first data to support the therapy in 1989.

Since then research has been conducted demonstrating its benefits in treating psychological trauma arising from experiences as diverse as war related experiences, childhood sexual and/or physical abuse or neglect, natural disaster, assault, surgical trauma, road traffic accidents and workplace accidents. Since its original development, EMDR is also increasingly used to help individuals with other issues and performance anxiety.

How does EMDR work?

When a person is involved in a distressing event, they may feel overwhelmed and their brain may be unable to process the information in the normal way. The memory seems to become frozen on a neurological level. When a person recalls the memory, the person can re-experience what they saw, heard, smelt, tasted or felt, and this can be quite intense. Sometimes the memories are so distressing, the person tries to avoid thinking about the distressing event to avoid experiencing the distressing feelings.

Some find that they experience distress again when something reminds them of the distressing event, or sometimes the memories just seem to just pop into mind. The alternating left-right stimulation of the brain with eye movements, sounds or taps during EMDR, seems to stimulate the frozen or blocked information processing system.

In the process the distress seems to lose its intensity, so that the memories and associated feelings are less distressing and seem more like ‘ordinary’ memories. The effect is believed to be similar to that which occurs naturally during REM sleep (Rapid Eye Movement) when your eyes rapidly move from side to side. EMDR helps reduce the distress of all the different kinds of memories, whether it was what you saw, heard, smelt, tasted, felt or thought.

HYPNOTHERAPY

Hypnosis is a natural experience, a natural everyday feeling. Have you ever been so absorbed in your work that you lost track of what was going on around you? Have you ever been so lost in your thoughts that you didn't hear someone calling your name? Have you ever driven from A to B and then realised that it feels as if you can’t remember the journey you just made but you were still in control because you stopped at traffic lights, avoided other cars? These are all examples of being in hypnosis.

LIFE COACHING

Coaching begins with the understanding that everyone is uniquely individual with their own set of goals, values, beliefs, behaviours and situations – some of which you know about, others you may have yet to discover. Your coaching sessions will be designed around you, for you and about you.

Today’s modern world is faster, more challenging and demanding, there are more opportunities, better accessibility to services and products, more variety and choice, and so on. This is all fantastic and we benefit enormously but is there also a human cost factor to be considered? We’ve all seen the research and media reports that mental health issues affect 1 in 4 people in the UK and there is a growing problem with increasing pressure on NHS services. There may also be a gender gap for seeking help as it seems that men are generally less willing to open up about things and talk, which can lead to increased stress, anxiety, low self-esteem and a range of other issues. As the world changes rapidly, we also need to take care of ourselves – physically and emotionally.

What we do, or don’t do, is driven by desire or fear and we discover and learn resources that help us, or hinder us, for any given situation. Talking this through, exploring options and thinking differently can help us find happiness, success and confidence in our everyday lives. As your professional coach, I’ll guide you through this behavioural change process to help you to unlock your potential, improve your positive mindset and discover self-fulfilment.

Whether you’re trying to deal with a difficult situation or you just want more out of life, coaching can guide you to a different, better destination. It starts with you making a choice – you’ve read this far, I think you’re ready.

ART THERAPY

Art therapy is a psychotherapy that uses creative processes to address emotional and behavioural issues. Clients use various art materials such as pencils, paints, pastels, clay, collage to think about emotional issues which maybe distressing and confusing. It is not a recreational activity and is not an art class although the therapy sessions can be enjoyable. You don’t have to be good at art to benefit.

Art therapists work with children, young people, adults and the elderly.

Although influenced by psychoanalysis, art therapists have been inspired by theories such as attachment-based psychotherapy and have developed a broad range of client-centred approaches such as psycho-educational, mindfulness and mentalization-based treatments, compassion-focussed and cognitive analytic therapies, and socially engaged practice.

INTEGRATIVE THERAPY

Integrative counselling is a combined approach to therapy, which involves an amalgamation of elements from different theories in order to work with what is brought to the counselling room. Integrative counselling is based around the idea that not one sole approach can always be effective in all client situations. Therefore the collaboration of these approaches has the potential to expand and fit each individual’s needs.

Integrative counselling is a progressive form of counselling that combines different therapeutic tools to fit the needs of the client. This type of therapy is very much based around the individual and their uniqueness as a whole, taking into consideration past, present and future experiences, as well as the individual’s many views.

This theory attempts to work together with an individual and positively affect the cognitive, behavioural as well as physiological elements that are impacted. The individual is really kept at the heart of this practice and not just parts of their experiences explored; the whole individual is seen as key to promoting their mental, physical and emotional wellbeing.