Therapy services

Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) is a popular talking therapy, widely recommended by national treatment guidelines. It is used to treat a range of issues and is underpinned by the idea that how we think, feel and what we do are all connected and impact one another. It helps breakdown problems we have by focusing on these component parts. 

Changing one of these can allow change in other areas also, preventing a negative spiral. When we are having difficulties, we can often fall into unhelpful (or negative) patterns of thinking which can make us feel worse. CBT allows us to notice what is happening and change these patterns enabling positive change in our lives.  I use CBT to help you make sense of your thoughts, feelings and behaviours.

CBT is structured and skills focused therapy approach. It is a collaborative therapy where you work with the therapist to achieve goals you have agreed. It equips you with skills which help you deal with different problems. It is a recommended treatment by the National Institute of Clinical Excellence  for many disorders including the following:

• Depression 
• Anxiety disorders 
• Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD)
• Insomnia 
• Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
• Eating disorders 
• Psychosis and schizophrenia

 Dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT) is a skills focused therapy, which evolved from CBT with the aim of helping people find ways to cope with difficult emotions and improve relationships with others. It aims to help people manage the here and now, similar to CBT but was developed specifically for people who have borderline personality disorder or personality difficulties. Often people who access DBT have had difficult experiences in early life and are looking for new ways to approach situations, so they can continue living their life. People who access DBT can at times feel out of control, experience difficult emotions which are intense and frequently use coping strategies that are harmful to themselves and others.  I use DBT skills training to help you regulate your emotions and feel more in control of your behaviours.

This therapy focuses specifically on developing skills in 

• Mindfulness: teaching how to focus on the here and now, and balance out states of mind
• Interpersonal effectiveness: teaching how to get better in getting what you want, being able to say no and dealing with conflict in relationships
• Emotion regulation: teaches to understand what emotions are, how to label them and deal with difficult emotional states
• Distress tolerance: teaches crises survival skills and tolerate difficult emotions without making thing worse or using impulsivity to cope 

It can help you 

• understand and accept difficult feelings
• learn skills to manage them
• challenge unhelpful thoughts and actions that may have developed      from early life
• get what you want out of life and achieve long term goals

Schema therapy is a longer-term therapy, helpful for people who want to overcome recurrent difficulties and unhelpful patterns with issues such as self-criticism, low self-esteem, problems with relationships, unstable emotions, and identity issues. This therapy is particularly effective for many longer-term mental health problems, allowing recovery from chronic anxiety, depression, and personality difficulties. It can be more helpful for people who have suffered recurrent trauma in childhood and onwards and want to think about how this has affected them or why they are the way they are.

Many people who access this type of therapy have often tried other therapies but found change or the way they deal with things difficult and have become frustrated with the lack of progress. These difficulties may relate to trust, abandonment, pessimism, or difficulties in letting people see you who you really are or you in a vulnerable state.  I use schema therapy to help you process and heal the past. Schema therapy helps you build strategies in order to help you move forward.  

Schema therapy targets change at the underlying patterns of emotion and belief that make up our ‘schemas’, which is another word for negative life beliefs. Schema therapy helps you to recognise how your earlier life influences the way you feel about yourself and your relationships, and shapes how you go about coping with life now; making sense of our psychology and any difficulties we may experience.

It is helpful for 

• Complex trauma 
• Eating disorders
• Anxiety
• Relationship or interpersonal difficulties
• Chronic depression
• Substance abuse 
• Personality related conditions