There are many reasons someone might seek support through counselling or psychotherapy. Sometimes people know exactly what’s troubling them and what they want to work through; sometimes people have a general sense of unease but don’t know exactly where to start. That’s ok, therapy is an opportunity to explore together and find answers to some of life’s most difficult questions.
These are some of the areas that prompt people to get in touch and that I have lots of experience working with, but no one fits neatly into a heading or label. Whatever you are struggling with, we can look at it together and work towards healing the pain.
Anxiety
It is natural for us all to experience some level of anxiety; it is often a very reasonable response, but it becomes problematic when it is enduring and experienced excessively.
My support can help you to understand what the anxious response relates to, to make the unconscious conscious, and to be better able to develop healthy responses to the stresses and tensions of life.
Grief and Loss
How we respond to grief and loss is individual to us. There is no single right way to grieve. When we are in the depths of it, it can seem as though we’ll never survive it. I can be alongside you through this painful process to find ways to believe in the world again and give your grief a voice in a safe and supported way.
Compulsive Behaviour
Whether it be a recognition that we are using alcohol, drugs, or food in a way that is not healthy for us, a desire to change our unhealthy emotional responses such as excessive anger, or a longing to be free of an obsession or compulsion, psychotherapy can help to develop new ways of responding to your thoughts and feelings that lead to long term positive change.
Depression
Depression is often accompanied by a sense of hopelessness. It can be debilitating and impact on all areas of life – work, relationships, physical health.
In a safe space, at a pace that is right for you, psychotherapy can help you to feel understood and supported, and able to figure out what the roots of the depression might be, and critically, to find a way out of it and back to hope.
Relationships
Our relationships can provide a source of joy, security and love. They can also cause us difficulty and pain and leave us feeling discontented. This can happen in relationships with our partners, our professional relationships and those with family and friends. Together, we can identify negative cycles and issues around communication and with new insight, you can decide what changes you want to bring about.
Self-Esteem
Feeling worthless and having a low opinion of oneself causes incredible psychological pain, usually accompanied by self-limiting behaviours.
Psychotherapy with me is a process in which we can explore where these feelings might come from and, with this new awareness, you can make changes and decisions about yourself that lead you to a sense of your own value and worth.