A time and place for you
Counselling and Psychotherapy and Clinical Supervision
Trauma Therapy
Trauma is described as any deeply distressing or disturbing event. Whether this results in physical injury or not.
It is common for people who have experienced trauma to minimise their experience by assuming that as other people may have had worse experiences, their own experience does not count. However this ins't true what happened to you does count and if your memories effect your ability to lead a satisfying life you can get help to change this.
Specialist therapy for example EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing) and Brainspotting have been developed over the last 30 years to deal specifically with symptoms of Trauma.
Childhood trauma may result in low self esteem, low confidence and difficulty in taking care of yourself, feelings of inadequacy and a need to please others and difficulties in relationships. As well as addictions and eating problems.
Present traumas may include critical incidents experienced by emergence workers and medical professional.
Road Traffic accidents, bullying at work and sexual assault amongst other issues.
Recovering from any frightening situation, which leaves you unable to sleep, and haunted by memories which can leave you isolated and unable to work or relate to others.
EMDR in particular is backed by a great deal of research.
Couples Counselling
When our closest relationship goes wrong we often feel we have nobody to talk to, nobody to turn to. It can seem disloyal to talk to friends or relatives. It may have become impossible to talk honestly with your partner, the intimacy of the conversation too difficult. It can be helpful for either or both to talk individually to a counsellor.
However the couple may choose to see a counsellor together, in this instance the relationship is seen by the counsellor as the client rather than either of the individauls.
The model I have developed for couples counselling is based on the mediation model. I invite each person to come for an individual counselling session where they can offload all their concerns without fear of hurting their partner and where I can get a sense of the relationship from each persons point of view.
At this point I can also help each individual understand what is wrong and what they want to be different. I then invite the couple to come to a joint session where I can facilitate them talking about their relationship.
After these initial three sessions the couple may decide to go away and continue alone or we can make a plan to continue the joint sessions, interspersed with individual sessions when appropriate. Each couple is different, so each plan is different.
There is no agreed description, which satisfactorily distinguishes Counselling and Psychotherapy.
Counselling
However it can be useful when you are considering what your needs are from a counsellor or therapist to think of counselling as a place to talk, to offload emotionally and feel accepted, supported, encouraged. A time and place for you to focus on whatever difficulties you have at this time in your life, with a skilled and non-judgemental listener. This process of talking and being profoundly heard, accepted and respected, is thought to be the necessary and sufficient condition for you to deal with issues which trouble you in the present, and to gain a greater understanding of yourself.
To develop insight and self awareness and understanding of your relationships.
Counselling in this instance can be seen as either short term or open ended. You can agree a set number of sessions with the practitioner. An initial 6-12 sessions is common. The counselling relationship is a supportive place to use as a resource, a supportive relationship you can return to, as and when you feel the need.
Psychotherapy
Whilst retaining all the features of counselling, Paychotherpay may be a longer term relationship in which problems arising from childhood are discussed. The therapist may be more active in this process and provide a relationship in which you can resolve issues from the past including the difficult of making meaningful relationships in the present.
Clinical Supervision
I offer consultative supervision for Counsellors, Psychotherapists and other professionals individual and groups.