Counselling
A place to express your feelings and explore what is happening in your life in a safe, supportive counselling environment.
Working together, we will hope to rediscover or discover a life that feels like it is yours.
Trauma and post-traumatic stress
Experiencing trauma can have devastating effects physically and psychologically on individuals. We all respond to trauma differently. Some can work through things themselves, and things settle; for others, their day-to-day life is disrupted. This can impact on our behavioural, social and emotional responses.
If we cannot helpfully process trauma, we can suffer from PTSD. PTSD presents itself in many ways, including, lack of feeling, fear, depression, manic episodes, anger, guilt, flashbacks, poor sleep, avoidance, hypervigilance, and cognitive changes. PTSD is something that, for many, may not last a long time. For others, they may need assistance to reduce and alleviate the symptoms.
Stress, anxiety and panic attacks
Anxiety is a natural response that we feel when we are under threat. It is often heightened when we feel anxious about things that are about to happen or we think might happen.
A small amount of stress can help us be productive. But stress is a problem when it lasts for a long time or is so intense it stops us from coping. If severe stress is left untreated, it can cause depression and anxiety.
Panic attacks are a response to fear that can often be created by stress and anxiety. They are your body exaggerating its normal functions. During a panic attack, you may feel like you have lost control or are having a heart attack, and you may even feel you will die. Not only can we work on physical methods of overcoming a panic attack. Together, we can work on the cause of the fear and aim to remove panic attacks from everyday life.
Couples Counselling
Couples can attend counselling with me to discuss a wide range of issues, from lack of physical and sexual intimacy, communication breakdown and trust, jealousy, and infidelity issues. Life transitions and family changes can cause problems as can work-related stress or financial difficulties.
It is essential to look at the impact of the past on you as a couple in a safe space and work to disentangle it from the present. As a counsellor, I assist you in understanding how to communicate better for both of you. I can help you understand what each of you now needs from your relationship by giving you methods to better express yourself and your needs, place boundaries, and create a stronger relationship.
Couples counselling can also help couples going through separation, civil partnerships endings or divorce to communicate in a safe and neutral environment, allowing you both to express your thoughts and feelings while minimising any tension.
Family and relationship concerns
Many things can cause relationship and family issues: Differences in opinions, beliefs, values or expectations. Personality clashes with parents, partners and siblings; illness; drug or alcohol use; financial stress; divorce or re-partnership; and survival of violence/abuse/neglect are just a few things that can cause issues.
Discussing your relationship and family concerns in a safe, non-judgmental space can assist in working through and formulating solutions which could avoid further heartache and distress or methods of coping to accept the situation you may be in and see a way of moving forward.
Grief, loss and bereavement
Some theories quote stages of grief. Although helpful as a guide, grief loss and bereavement is a unique experience for each person. Grief, loss and bereavement all connect to the suffering you feel when something or someone you like, enjoy, or love is taken or lost.
Whatever your loss, it's personal to you. There are healthy ways to cope with the pain that, in time, can ease your sadness and help you come to terms with your loss. This does not mean you need to forget or involve setting a time frame by which you should feel better.
Self-esteem
Feeling secure in life and knowing who you are is so important. Understanding that you are safe, accepting yourself, knowing others accept you for who you are and knowing what you want from life and that you can achieve it are all elements of self-esteem.
We can work together to rediscover who you are, your wants and assist you in stopping comparing yourself to other people. Especially if the people you feel judged and influenced by are individuals you don't want to be and possibly don't respect. Taking time for reflection and self-care will help you rediscover what matters in life and give you the confidence to be confident in your own skin.
Depression
Depression causes symptoms affecting how a person feels, thinks, and handles daily life. Depression can be overwhelming as it causes persistent sadness and loss of interest.
There is no single cause of depression. It can happen to anyone based on a stressful life event or seem to appear from nowhere with no reason.
Depression is not something you can 'snap out of' or 'pull yourself together' from. Talking therapy can assist in working through the challenges depression brings.
Anger management
Anger can make you feel as though you have no control and can be a scary place to be. It can 'yo-yo' from mild irritation to intense fury and rage.
Together, we can work on what triggers your anger, how it escalates, the point at which you feel there is no return and your anger has control of you and the guilt, exhaustion and dismay involved after the event.
Anger management is aimed to reduce both your feelings and the physiological arousal that anger causes. It is not meant to remove anger from your life. Anger, if managed and expressed healthily, is a crucial emotion to be able to communicate.
Work-related concerns
We spend a considerable amount of time at work, which can impact our mental health. Work-life balance can be hard to achieve, and it may be hard to set boundaries which ensure your mental well-being.
Your job role may not be as you imagined, and you may feel overwhelmed. You may not feel you can communicate you are struggling or that a colleague is making your life harder than needed. Or you might work for yourself and feel isolated and like you are carrying the world on your shoulders.
Work-related concerns include job dissatisfaction, injuries, stress, discrimination, bullying, retirement, redundancy, and unemployment.
Get in touch
Feel free to contact me if you have any questions about how counselling works, or to arrange an initial assessment appointment. This enables us to discuss the reasons you are thinking of coming to counselling, whether it could be helpful for you and whether I am the right therapist to help.
You can also call me on 07780 606420 if you would prefer to leave a message or speak to me first. I am happy to discuss any queries or questions you may have prior to arranging an initial appointment.
All enquires are usually answered within 24 hours, and all contact is strictly confidential.
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