| Certified By: | BACP |
| From: | Borough House, Borough High Street London, London, United Kingdom (UK) |
| Type of session: | Secure Video Call |
| Also speaks: | English |
| Specialty: | Addiction, Anxiety, Depression, Family, Relationships, Self - Esteem, Work |
| Target Age Group: | Teenager, Adult |
| Therapist Since: | 15/05/10 |
We are living in challenging times where fear, uncertainty and confusion are commonplace.
Many people I consult with are worried about not fitting in rather than what makes them unique and special. As well as what unites and connects them to others.
It’s easy to become used to over-relying on what others want from us, whilst losing sight of who we really are.
We’ve not been encouraged in many of our communities and establishments to practice self-inquiry and reflection. This is not good for personal autonomy or building courage or confidence to be ourselves.
It’s easy for us to lose touch with how we feel, and be vulnerable to manipulation by others. Perhaps because we are afraid of what others might think of us if we dare to express our differences.
Thankfully coming to counselling and coaching can be a way of learning to manage and cope with uncertainty and the fear of rejection. Helping us to get back in touch with what is important to us, and reconnect with our true feelings and senses.
From here we can grow both mentally and physically stronger and more confident of who we are, and what is right for us and our loved ones.
I always want my work to be first and foremost about being of service to others.
I’ve had an awareness for many years that much of the suffering and terrible things that happen in the world are fundamentally unnecessary and wrong. And that collectively we can help each other to grow stronger and more resourceful individuals and communities.
Self-development is not only an investment in ourselves, but it’s also an investment in society. In that, we are saying we are committed to becoming a better version of ourselves each day for the benefit of our community.
Maybe now is the perfect time to invest in yourself? More and more people are seeking to become more self-actualizing and to reach their true potential.
What would you like to understand better, react differently to, grow stronger in, or be more accepting of?
One of the ways we can do this is by, when possible, making use of the challenges and adversity we face in seeing them as opportunities to grow rather than negativity. Of course, this is not always easy, and we may need help along the way.
I have found through activities like ‘Wim Hof method’ cold therapy training, that doesn’t kill us can most definitely can make us stronger.
If we take sensible strategic risks and practice relaxing into our fight-flight responses, we can develop the resilience we need through gentle repetitive exposure to what we find challenging. This can help us to re-write our responses.
As well as reducing the need to over-rely on medication to function, which also risks putting harmful toxins into our bodies as well as having potentially negative side effects including addiction.
It’s far better to get back in touch with our true nature the way many of our ancestors were.
I have ten years experience of working in the NHS, and in schools as well as in private practice.
I help young people with the challenges they face with their families, friends and academic careers.
I also work with professionals who are struggling to find balance between their work and personal lives.
Often the symptoms show up as depression and anxiety, I help them to understand how these symptoms can work like warning lights, letting us know that we need to do something to make change within ourselves or in our actions and behaviours.
In my work, common themes and patterns that frequently show up are, dysfunctional lifestyles can come about as a coping strategy or distractions from the root causes of suffering.
Addictions and over dependance can show up in various ways around substances, sex and other patterns of behaviour. As well as ineffective communication and unsatisfactory relationships.
We experience others as not understanding or caring, but often we have shut down and are not communicating our needs or desires.
These are some of the unpleasant symptoms associated with anxiety, depression, low mood, low self esteem, lack of energy or motivation. They are likely to be heightened when we are suffering a loss of relationship or bereavement, or if we are having problems at work or in our personal life.
I came to this type of vocational work with a deep desire to do good in the world and commitment to give back whatever I can for the benefit of others.
I love to help people to learn to make the use of their past, to make peace where possible with those that have wronged them. And to create a meaningful and inspired present life.
As well as my integrative humanistic counselling and psychotherapy training, I also work with a holistic body based (somatic) coaching model called ‘Embodiment Coaching’. This gives you the opportunity to explore how you typically move through life, how you physically respond to stress and how this affects your emotions and psychology. People often find they slouch or compress their bodies, or hold a lot of tension in their back and shoulders due to stress and unresolved issues.
In order to achieve these possibilities we need the foundations of a trusting, consistent working relationship, you need to know I am here for you when I agree to be, that it is my commitment as well as yours.
You need to know you will not be judged unkindly and that I will use empathy and unconditional positive regard at all times.
The Bacp ethical framework is a symbol of these values and commitment to my clients.
I am also happy, where possible to offer a free get to know you assessment meeting where we can explore how we might work together.
So that I can get to know you and your circumstances as well as possible, we need to meet weekly for an agreed number of sessions in our initial contract, usually between 6-12 sessions.
I have a lot of experience in working on short term contracts with clients to help you to gain the understanding you require to make necessary changes in order to reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety as soon as possible.
Our first meeting will be to help us decide what you would like to put into our working agreement, we will decide together, the goals and focuses of our work, using an assessment model called SMART- (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Timely) we agree what you feel you can realistically achieve in our agreed number of sessions.
https://corporatefinanceinstitute.com/resources/knowledge/other/smart-goal/
