What is the difference between counselling and psychotherapy?
Counselling deals mostly with situation and problems that have arisen in our personal situation, such as in work and in relationships.
Psychotherapy deals more with aspects of our personality that we are finding difficult or painful.
What treatment can I be offered?
You can be offered short or long term therapy for the more usual issues like relationship difficulties, low self-esteem, moderate depression and anxiety, problems at work or with your family.
However, you can also receive a more in-depth and supportive service if you are feeling very distressed or have more serious mental conditions. We can also work collaboratively with other professionals such as art and drama therapists, group psychotherapy, psychologists and psychiatrist.
If you require a therapist who specialises in another area or if you need a referral to a psychiatrist for further assessment or treatment you can be referred on.
What kind of problems make people seek Counselling and Psychotherapy?
Life throws many difficulties our way such as relationship problems, the loss of someone we live, family disputes, problems at work, money worries. Or we realise that we have a serious issue that just won’t go away of its own accord. Or a problem that we cannot cope with any longer without help. Sometimes it is the way other people, especially those who are precious to us, that makes us realise that we must seek help.
Throughout our lives we are challenged by difficult situations, loss and stress and this can lead to feelings of anxiety, stress or a feeling of being out of control. Sometimes we feel so depressed because we feel helpless and hopeless, unable to move forward. Often we feel alone and isolated and that there is no-one to turn to.
Whatever the situation or issue, taking to a counsellor or psychotherapists in a confidential and private setting, who is objective, understanding and sympathetic, can feel like a burden is lifted from your shoulders. Counselling or psychotherapy can help you see things more clearly, help you become the person you really are, so you can achieve a happier and healthier life at home and at work. Counselling and psychotherapy can be a transforming experience.
If you require a therapist who specialises in another area or if you need a referral to a psychiatrist for further assessment or treatment if necessary, you can be referred on.
You can be offered short or long term therapy for the more usual issues like relationship difficulties, low self-esteem, moderate depression and anxiety, problems at work or with your family. However, you can also receive a more in depth and supportive service if you are feeling very distressed or have more serious mental conditions. Where we can work collaboratively with art and drama therapists, group psychotherapy, psychologists and psychiatrist.
How does psychodynamic psychotherapy work?
Therapy gives you the opportunity to talk in a safe space to someone who is objective, non-judgemental, empathic and who can be trusted to keep what you say totally confidential. Under these circumstances it is possible to talk about what are sometimes very painful issues or the challenges in life that you might be struggling with. Therapy offers support, clarification and insight into what can often seem confusing and difficult feelings, and can help you deal with such issues as emotional distress, anxiety, depression, difficult situations, life changes, anger, having difficulty with relationships, relationship breakups, divorce, confused sexuality, problems at work, or with alcohol, food or drugs, and more.
Psychotherapy believes we all have an in-born drive to actualise emotional and mental health. Part of therapy is about identifying and removing the blocks that are stopping this, preventing us from achieving our potential and becoming who we really are. The process of therapy enables one to make the necessary and important links between past and present experiences. By doing this, you will begin to understand why you behave the way you do, why you respond in certain ways: possibly over-reacting, getting angry or overly upset with those who you are close to, or with people at work and other situations you encounter in life or simply why you feel depressed or lacking in confidence or self-esteem.
Our childhoods and the way we were treated by our parents and significant others form our core beliefs, the way we view ourselves and others, and we all carry these beliefs into adulthood, some of them more unconsciously than others. For instance, we may carry around a life script such as ‘I deserve nothing’ or ‘I am not good enough’ which we may or may not be aware of, but which play out in our relationships with others, and can even sabotage our relationships and careers. This life script governs the way we interpret situations and what others say to us and can also stop us reaching our full potential.
The aim of therapy therefore is to enable you to gain insight into the way you behave, respond to others and why you feel and think the way you do. This insight is achieved by exploring and understanding how your past affects your present and by identifying patterns of behaviour in life scripts that are not serving you and are not in your best interests. It also comes from working with the unconscious, for example by looking at your dreams and working with creative imagination exercises.
The aim is also to support you and help you find solutions and finding new ways of thinking and being that will give you the inner support, strength, creative thinking and resourcefulness to lead an independent and happy life.
Fees
Sessions last for 50 minutes
The cost starts from £80
Sessions are agreed in advance and payment made for missed sessions.
Personality Disorder
If you suffer with a personality disorder it is generally considered that Metallisation Based Training works as an effective treatment. As a practitioner of this treatment I can work with you to understand the difficulties that you have with regulation of your emotions, your thinking and understanding difficulties with other people.
