Therapy
Many of us experience common mental health problems at some point in our lives or in particular situations
Cognitive behavioural therapy
Each year 1 in 4 people in England experience a mental health problem of some kind. Understanding how these difficulties develop and how they are maintained, and how we get stuck in loops which reinforce unhelpful thoughts and behaviours, is the first step to achieving change. CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy) has developed and become very effective over the last 30 years. In my practice, I achieve higher than average levels of recovery and very positive feedback from clients.
Do you:
Worry about relationships?
About your own competence?
About your health?
Feeling hopeless and depressed?
Many of these difficulties are caused by unhelpful habits of thinking and associated feelings. These then lead to certain behaviours which serve to maintain negative thoughts about ourselves. A “vicious cycle” develops that is hard to break. But good therapy and support can help you do this.
Some problems (such as needle phobias or fear of spiders) can be treated very simply without looking necessarily at what caused the condition. Other conditions may need a more in-depth understanding.
Frequently people suffer from the consequences of mistreatment or abuse in their early years. This does not always result in post-traumatic stress disorder, but it can be equally devastating. People may experience low self-esteem, heightened levels of anxiety and an inability to form and maintain relationships.
Sometimes, when you think about things have happened to you when you were younger it is not surprising that you feel and behave the way that you do. “Flashbacks “ are not always connected with horrific sounds or images – we can sometimes relive the feeling of panic/worry /unease that stems from experience earlier in our lives.
I am able to help with many common difficulties such as :
- Worry
- Anxiety
- Phobia
- Low self-esteem.
- Depression.
- Panic.
- Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD)
- Post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
- Social anxiety disorder(Shyness)
- Health anxiety.
Effective therapy can help you deal even more effectively with things that have happened to you. We may visit and think about the past: not to be haunted or bullied by it but to be free from it.
Recognising that in our current experience, what we perceive is a mix of what we currently experience and experiences from past events. Past events create a lens through which we see and interpret things and people.
Therapy is about modifying these negative thoughts, recognising “triggers “ and learning new ways of thinking and behaving.