I spent several years in therapy because I believe in the power of therapy (you would not recognize the person I was!) but also, how can I hold your hand as you go through this process if I have not done it myself?
Let's face it, life often throws us a curveball, something painful, unexpected, frightening or even devastating. We all have coping strategies and sometimes they can be unhealthy ones. What happens when they don't work, or they become too destructive or unmanageable? We can feel pain, fear, anxiety or depression and if we ‘carry on regardless’ we can feel worse and our mental health suffers. So, often we increase our coping strategies, we hurt ourselves or others and we feel life is out of control. If we still ignore our needs, we head towards dangerous territory and we find ourselves in crisis.
How we work together is something we agree on our first session. We work to stabilize the crisis situation you may find yourself in. I work in two ways, short-term therapy focused on one specific area or we work longer-term and cover all bases. I will always listen first and foremost and as we progress I will ask more questions to help guide you onto a path you feel works better for you. The choice is yours!
I believe that we all have choices, we can all change, we can all make meaningful connections with others and we are all ok. I work with you, not as an expert, but a ‘fellow traveller ‘on your journey to feeling good again. As a humanistic therapist, I look at childhood patterns, your life story (told by you, for you) and how all of these affects you in the present. There is no judgement in our sessions, but there will be openness, honesty and confidentiality. Our relationship & connection will reflect on how relationships work in the outside world for you.
I work with many issues in three main areas
I work with the survivors of trauma, no matter what that trauma may be – sexual, physical or emotional abuse, childhood issues, military service, domestic violence, controlling relationships or witnessing trauma. So, this means I work with the symptoms of being a survivor – disassociation, personality disorders like emotionally unstable PD (borderline) and narcissism, flashbacks, self-harm, suicidal ideation, PTSD anxiety and depression to name a few.
Anxiety and depression have become common in our culture today and I work with all forms of either issue (postnatal depression & seasonal affective disorder, generalised anxiety disorder, stress, panic disorder) using a combination of identifying triggers, developing coping skills and looking at the root cause.
Finally, I have personal experience of eating disorders and have supported several people through the whole bariatric surgery process. So, this means I am able to offer a knowledgeable and experienced service to anyone at any age who has issues with food, no matter what those issues are. (Anorexia, Bulimia, binge eating and Orthorexia) I use a Health at Every Size (HAES) methodology and Intuitive Eating. Please note I have a large body and I know that can be a trigger for some people so please be aware of that.
