What is Psychotherapy
It’s an opportunity to talk about things that concern you, in a relationship of trust and acceptance – working to find a way forward that feels right for you.
Therapy is usually a weekly session of 50 minutes. It may be just a few sessions, or it can continue for a year or longer. How long we continue depends on whether you are still finding it helpful – we can check that out regularly.
The ‘Therapy Relationship’
Research suggests that the element that influences the success of therapy irrespective of the philosophical approach is the quality of relationship the counsellor is able to develop with clients. It might be worth considering what is important to you in a counsellor. No counsellor is right for everyone. I believe in the use of myself in the therapy relationship and in the importance of my continuing personal and professional development.
The quality of the therapeutic relationship is one of the most important factors in successful therapy. My role is not to judge, advise or tell you who you should be, but to provide a relationship where you feel genuinely heard, understood and accepted. Drawing on over 30 years of counselling experience, together with advanced training in EMDR and Internal Family Systems (IFS), I tailor therapy to your individual needs. Whether we are processing traumatic memories, understanding attachment patterns or exploring the different parts of yourself, my aim is to help you feel emotionally safe enough to make sense of your experiences and create lasting change. As trust develops, many clients find they begin to relate to themselves with greater compassion and confidence, and to others with increased security and authenticity.
Person-Centred Therapy
Devised by Carl Rogers and also called “Client-Centred” or “Rogerian” therapy, this is based on the assumption that a client seeking help in the resolution of a problem they are experiencing, can enter into a relationship with a therapist who is sufficiently accepting and permissive to allow the client to freely express any emotions and feelings. This will enable the client to come to terms with negative feelings, which may have caused emotional problems, and develop inner resources.
The goals of person-centered therapy are increased self-esteem; trust in one’s inner feelings and experiences as valuable sources of information for making decisions; increased ability to learn from (rather than repeating) mistakes; decreased defensiveness, guilt, and insecurity; more positive and comfortable relationships with others; an increased capacity to experience and express feelings at the moment they occur; and openness to new experiences and new ways of thinking about life.
What is EMDR?
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, or EMDR, is a powerful new psychotherapy technique which has been very successful in helping people who suffer from trauma, anxiety, panic, disturbing memories, post traumatic stress and many other emotional problems. Until recently, these conditions were difficult and time-consuming to treat. EMDR is considered a breakthrough therapy because of its simplicity and the fact that it can bring quick and lasting relief for most types of emotional distress.
EMDR is the most effective and rapid method for healing PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) as shown by extensive scientific research studies.
The EMDR therapy uses bilateral stimulation, right/left eye movement, or tactile stimulation, which repeatly activates the opposite sides of the brain, releasing emotional experiences that are “trapped” in the nervous system. This assists the neurophysiological system, the basis of the mind/body connection, to free itself of blockages and reconnect itself.
As troubling images and feelings are processed by the brain via the eye-movement patterns of EMDR, resolution of the issues and a more peaceful state are achieved.
How Does It Work?
The therapist works gently with the client and asks him/her to revisit the traumatic moment or incident, recalling feelings surrounding the experience, as well as any negative thoughts, feelings and memories. The therapist then holds her fingers about eighteen inches from the clients face and begins to move them back and forth like a windshield wiper. The client tracks the movements as if watching ping pong. The more intensely the client focuses on the memory, the easier it becomes for the memory to come to life. As quick and vibrant images arise during the therapy session, they are processed by the eye movements, resulting in painful feelings being exchanged for more peaceful, loving and resolved feelings.
What problems are helped by EMDR?
The studies to date show a high degree of effectiveness with the following conditions:
- High anxiety and lack of motivation
- Depression
- Memories of a traumatic experience
- Fear of being alone
- Unrealistic feelings of guilt and shame
- Fear of being alone
- Difficulty in trusting others
- Relationship problems
- Loss of a loved one
The EMDR technique is most effective when used in conjunction with other traditional methods of therapy in treating these and many other emotional disorders.
EMDR therapy can help clients replace their anxiety and fear with positive images, emotions and thoughts.
Internal Family Systems Therapy
Internal Family Systems (IFS) is an approach to psychotherapy that identifies and addresses multiple sub-personalities or families within each person’s mental system. These sub-personalities consist of wounded parts and painful emotions such as anger and shame, and parts that try to control and protect the person from the pain of the wounded parts. The sub-personalities are often in conflict with each other and with one’s core Self, a concept that describes the confident, compassionate, whole person that is at the core of every individual. IFS focuses on healing the wounded parts and restoring mental balance and harmony by changing the dynamics that create discord among the sub-personalities and the Self.
IFS was developed by psychologist Richard Schwartz. In his work as a family therapist, Schwartz began to observe patterns in how people described their inner lives: “What I heard repeatedly were descriptions of what they often called their “parts”—the conflicted subpersonalities that resided within them,” Schwartz says. He began to conceive of the mind as a family, and the parts as family members interacting with one another. Exploring how these components functioned with one another was the foundation for IFS and the idea of the core Self.
Attachment Focused Therapy
Many of the difficulties we experience as adults have their roots in our earliest relationships. Together we can understand how these experiences continue to affect your emotions, relationships and sense of self, and help you move towards lasting change.
Research consistently shows that the quality of the therapeutic relationship is one of the most important factors in successful therapy. My role is not to judge, advise or tell you who you should be, but to provide a relationship where you feel genuinely heard, understood and accepted. Drawing on over 30 years of counselling experience, together with advanced training in EMDR and Internal Family Systems (IFS), I tailor therapy to your individual needs. Whether we are processing traumatic memories, understanding attachment patterns or exploring the different parts of yourself, my aim is to help you feel emotionally safe enough to make sense of your experiences and create lasting change. As trust develops, many clients find they begin to relate to themselves with greater compassion and confidence, and to others with increased security and authenticity.
Have you ever wondered why you keep repeating the same patterns in relationships? Perhaps you fear people leaving, find it difficult to trust, put everyone else’s needs before your own, or feel uncomfortable with emotional closeness.
These are often not personality flaws. They can be understandable responses to our earliest relationships.
You may notice patterns such as:
- Fearing rejection or abandonment
- Finding it difficult to trust others
- People pleasing or losing yourself in relationships
- Choosing emotionally unavailable partners
- Avoiding closeness because it feels unsafe
- Feeling “too much” or “not enough”
These patterns often make sense when we understand your attachment history.
Attachment focused therapy helps us understand where these patterns began and gently heal the experiences that shaped them. Through EMDR, Internal Family Systems (IFS) and a safe therapeutic relationship, we can reduce the impact of past experiences, helping you feel more secure, connected and confident in your relationships and in yourself
Trauma is not only about frightening events. It can also arise from growing up without consistent emotional safety, feeling unseen, criticised or having to cope alone. These early experiences can shape the way we relate to ourselves and others throughout life.
Cognitive Behavioural Approach
This is a type of therapy that aims to help you manage your problems by changing how you think and act. The Cognitive Behavioural Approach can help you to change how you think (‘cognitive’) and what you do (‘behaviour’), which can help you feel better about life.
The approaches I incorporate in my therapy practice are evidenced based and are endorsed by the NHS NICE guidelines for clinical excellence.
How Does it work?
How we work together will depend on the reasons you are attending therapy, your goals and what you feel comfortable with, which we can discuss when we begin. Some people respond best to Cognitive Behavioural strategies, while others prefer using the space to offload. Others want to explore the past to make sense of the present.
A focus in our work may be how we can help you make changes in your life, for example, finding ways to relax, to build self-esteem, relate with others differently or combat your depression and anxiety, so that you can move forward in your life in a more rewarding and fulfilling way.
For EMDR, we would co create an EMDR treatment plan based on your history timeline we would do together. Emdr is an evidence base practice known to reduce of Trauma and complex PTSD. In addition, we would identify your different parts (Internal Family Systems or IFS) and help them integrate and heal.
How long does it take?
Therapy is usually a weekly session of 50 minutes. It may be just a few sessions, or it can continue for a year or longer. How long we continue depends on whether you are still finding it helpful – we can check that out regularly.
Once we decide to work together I usually suggest we work for 6 weekly sessions and then review but ultimately it is entirely up to you to decide what feels right for you.
How much does it cost?
Contact me to arrange a first appointment with no obligation to continue. At that appointment you can tell me what the problem is and then we can talk about how we might work on it. That way you also get an idea of what it’s like having counselling with me.
My fee is £90 per 50 minute session for individuals Some concessions are available – do ask.
