Clients consult me with specific problems, including psychological trauma, depression, anxiety, stress, burnout and relationship difficulties, or to gain a deeper understanding of themselves.
Talking enables the mind to externalise, organise and process. This itself is powerful. With professional guidance, in a non-judgemental therapeutic setting, the opportunity for real breakthrough increases.
Consultations are available in St Albans (UK) or via Skype and FaceTime.
I am registered with all the major UK health insurance providers.
How I work
My practice is based on Jungian principles of therapy as a partnership and a conversation between two equals; one trained in human psychology and the other an expert in their life experience, ways of thinking, feeling and behaving.
My job is to listen closely to what is said and select the most effective treatment or way of working. What is suited to psychological trauma is different to depression or stress and different again where clients are looking for personal analysis.
Psychological trauma
Clients often describe how traumatic experience, like an accident, a death, a serious illness or an attack, continues to ‘live with them’ after the incident is over. Post-traumatic stress reactions, including flashbacks, nightmares, intrusive thoughts and panic attacks are signs that the brain is trying, but failing, to process the traumatic experience.
Often the feeling is one of being ‘hyped-up’ on ‘red alert’ and emotionally wired. Alternatively, mood can be very flat and emotions ‘frozen’. There can be a strong need to actively avoid reminders of what happened because of the anxiety and upset that they trigger. There can be images, sounds, smells and emotions associated with the incident that just will not go away.
Treatment focusses on calming the brain and helping it to process what has happened. At the very heart of this approach is a technique known as EMDR (recommended by the National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE) guidelines). I find EMDR to be highly effective. With a single traumatic experience it is usually effective in under 6 sessions. With multiple traumatic experiences it is also effective but takes longer.
Depression, anxiety, stress, burnout and relationship difficulties
All represent minds and lives under pressure, sometimes to breaking point. My working strategy is to alleviate symptoms in the present, whilst finding ways to understand and resolve root causes.
We all have within us the knowledge – our authentic voice – that speaks our own truth and guides us. But we can find ways to ignore that voice and find, instead of motivation, inspiration and harmony, weariness, panic and fear. These negative experiences are also messages sent from deep within ourselves that we do violence against our core selves. The overall goal is to empower clients to re-connect with their lives in a more healthy and satisfying way.
Research has found that this approach is more successful (long-term) than Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and resulted in benefits that continued to evolve after treatment was complete.
Personal analysis
A guided journey of discovery with the goal of balance; of living better now with the past in its proper place. It is about self-fulfilment, authenticity, releasing potential and enrichment; an opportunity to identify and address obstacles to personal growth and well-being. As the body is empowered by strong muscles and supple joints, so the mind is empowered through self-respect and flexibility of thought.
Personal reflection
An extremely beneficial activity. Where life is busy or complicated, it is an opportunity to slow down and catch-up with oneself, order thoughts, put things in perspective, think creatively, increase self-awareness and self-regulation. Often clients move to this mode, following a period of more intense work, having discovered the benefit of a place to reflect away from everyday life. Clients choose to come once every few weeks or months depending on what they need.
‘My Life Now’
A stand-alone 4-hour session which focusses on current life situation looking at what is working and what is not. By the end of the session clients have a better understanding of their life patterns and some thoughts on the personal changes that could bring them closer to a true and satisfying expression of themselves.