I work with individuals and couples in a number of areas including:
Dealing with depression
Depression is real. It can be debilitating. It is frightening. It can be of long-standing; it can arrive without warning. It can be linked to a life event; it might have no discernible cause. And I suspect that we can learn to be depressed - which also means that we can unlearn it!
Treatment options can involve both medication and counselling therapy or either one. One of the benefits of medication is that is can enable you to be in a more positive place to do the hard work of understanding what is happening to you. Whether you choose medication or not, I believe that it is the hard work that can bring about a resolution.
I work with clients in exploring their depression; how they think and feel about their life and where there might be a more effective way for them.
Living with loss
Loss comes in many forms: death, separation, divorce, employment, youth, health, infertility, miscarriage, beauty, pets, possessions, trust, fairytales, assumptions, safety, world events or tiny and personal. The list is endless.
Grieving any loss is a necessary part of the healing process. There is no right or wrong way to do it. There is no right amount of time in which to do it. Sometimes there are no answers to the big questions.
I work with clients in helping them grieve and so find a way to incorporate their loss into their living. There’s a big difference between living and surviving.
Adjusting to Parenthood
The arrival of a new baby is not always the joyous experience we are told it is meant to be. Lack of sleep, isolation, loss of identity, difficulty with feeding, uncertainty and fear can all spiral us downwards. Is it post-natal depression? Is it grief over the loss of a previous life? Are these feelings normal? What is normal?
I work with clients in helping them look realistically at their lives; to work on their priorities; to establish social connections; to understand what is happening; to revel in parenthood and to be gentle with themselves.
Using anxiety
Anxiety can be destructive, debilitating, frightening, fearsome, constricting, agonising, embarrassing, isolating, paralysing.
Understanding, facing and conquering anxiety is possible.
I work with clients in helping them understand the causes of their anxiety, in analysing their thoughts about their anxiety and finally, actually using their anxiety gently and gradually to conquer it.
Relating effectively
Often when relationships break down, one person is left wondering what on earth happened. Other times, blame is landed squarely on one person’s shoulders. Sometimes both partners desperately want to stay together but just don’t know how.
I work with couples to help them see how their histories influence how they operate in the relationship; to use their strengths in the relationship; and for each of them to be heard and understood by the other.
Loving one’s self
Low self-esteem can come with feelings of self ‘loathing’, ‘despising’, ‘hating’. These are strong emotions and can have devastating consequences.
I work with clients to develop a sense of the equally strong, very emotive, and much more powerful, act of loving themselves.
Digging under anger
Anger itself is not a negative emotion. It has a right to be just as much as happiness and joy. It’s what we do with it that can be either positive or negative. If we are constantly angry, or explode unexpectedly, or inappropriately, there is usually an underlying and unresolved cause.
I work with clients to dig under their anger and explore that underlying cause.