Specialisms:
- Relationships
- Trauma
- Sports performance
- Stress / anxiety / depression
Client types:
Couples | Individuals | Groups | Companies
How do we meet:
Online | face-to-face | phone
Frequency:
Weekly | fortnightly | one-off
I work with clients on short term (6-12-24 sessions) or long term (open ended therapy).
Therapy Approaches:
- Transactional Analysis (TA)
- Somatic Experiencing (SE)
- Neurolinguistic Programming (NLP)
Transactional Analysis (TA)
Transactional analysis, developed by psychiatrist Eric Berne, is a form of modern psychology that examines a person’s relationships and interactions. In therapy, transactional analysis can be used to address one’s interactions and communications with the purpose of establishing and reinforcing the idea that each individual is valuable and has the capacity for positive change and personal growth.
Dr. Eric Berne developed transactional analysis in the last 1950s, using “transaction” to describe the fundamental unit of social intercourse, with “transactional analysis” being the study of social interactions between individuals.
The goal of transactional analysis is help the individual in therapy gain and maintain autonomy by strengthening the Adult state. Typically, the individual and the therapist will establish a contract that outlines the desired outcome they wish to achieve in therapy. This may contribute to the person in therapy taking personal responsibility for events that take place during treatment. The individual will generally then become more able to rely on their Adult ego states to identify and examine various thoughts, behaviors, and emotions which might hinder the ability to thrive.
The atmosphere that supports transactional analysis is one of comfort, security, and respect. When a positive relationship is forged between the therapist and the person seeking treatment, this often provides a model for subsequent relationships developed outside of the therapy arena.
Somatic Experiencing (SE)
Somatic Experiencing was developed by Peter Levine to address the effects of trauma. He developed this approach after observing that prey animals, whose lives are routinely threatened in the wild, are able to recover readily by physically releasing the energy they accumulate during stressful events. Humans, on the other hand, often override these natural ways of regulating the nervous system with feelings of shame and pervasive thoughts, judgments, and fears. Somatic Experiencing aims to help people move past the place of stuckness in processing a traumatic event.
Somatic Experiencing sessions involve the development of the feeling of safety as a starting point. Only once safety is established and can be easily accessed by the client, the therapist would move on to the introduction of small amounts of traumatic material and the observation of a client’s physical responses to that material. These can include shallow breathing or a shift in posture. The therapist will frequently check in with the client to assess and record body responses such as feelings of heaviness, tightness, or dizziness.
Work proceeds carefully and cautiously to avoid re-traumatizing or triggering the client, and they help people to develop and employ self-regulating strategies. The SE work will help the client find places of safety, whether that be a place in the body that is not activated by the trauma, or a physical place to retreat to in one’s mind. Experiencing the sensations related to the traumatic event in a safe way allows a person to fully process the trauma. Clients also achieve heightened awareness of their physical responses.
Confidentiality
Confidentiality is a cornerstone of therapeutic treatment. It gives clients the knowledge and comfort that they can be completely honest with their therapist, without fear that they will share what they said with outsiders.
That said, there are some circumstances that might call for the therapist to break that confidentiality. Breaking confidentiality means sharing specific, identifiable information about a client’s case without the client’s consent to do so.
Scenarios when a therapist has to break confidentiality may include:
- When the client has directed the therapist to share information about their case.
- When the client poses an imminent danger to themselves or others, and breaking confidentiality is necessary to resolve the danger.
- When the therapist suspects child abuse.
- When the therapist receives a qualifying court order.
Supervision and personal therapy:
My clinical work is subject to regular supervision in line with requirements applicable to a trainee psychotherapist.
I undertake regular personal therapy.
Fees:
£60 individuals – 50 mins weekly
£70 couples – 75 mins weekly
Groups – please enquire within
Payments:
Bank transfer or Paypal ahead of the session | Cash
Cancellation period:
7 days