About Therapy
Individual
What is Counselling?
Sometimes people already have an idea of what counselling is all about. Essentially it’s an opportunity to talk and explore an area of your life which you might be struggling with right now. Other than that, counselling is a different experience for every person.
What is psychotherapy?
Imagine counselling and then draw a circle around it as big as you can. Inside the circle are deeper issues of your life which psychotherapy looks at to gain a different perspective and understanding.
What’s the difference between the two?
The two often intersect and it can be hard to tell the difference. However, psychotherapy is usually longer and focuses on wider issues.
What do I offer?
The therapy I offer is comprised of both counselling and psychotherapy and this approach allows me to give the client what they need at the right time. I am trained in transactional analysis. This model looks at why we do what we do. About the choices we make and how we behave in the world. How we relate to others whilst being okay with who we are.
My training evolved from psychoanalytical principles with which I integrate existential philosophies and attachment theories.
What can I help with?
Individual and couples therapy. Depression, anxiety, panic attacks, self harm, low self esteem, self confidence, family and relationships, parenting, sexual abuse, trauma, grief, suicidal thoughts, intrusive thoughts, personality disorders, attachment issues, co-dependency, social anxiety, domestic abuse, miscarriage, sensitivity, difference, culture and identity, meaninglessness and purpose.
If you find what you are experiencing does not fit here, it may be that we are referring to the same issue by a different name or perhaps it is something we can talk about and I can refer you on to someone who can help.
How long is it?
The sessions are weekly and for fifty minutes. Often clients ask me how long the therapy lasts beyond the fifty minutes and the truth is it all depends on the individual.
How much is it?
Fees are £130
How do I pay?
The session can be paid by bank transfer.
Can I have a free initial assessment?
Absolutely. Some clients prefer to start straight away, which is fine too. I offer a free half hour assessment session for you to meet me and ask me whatever questions you have. You can also email me. For much of the day I am with clients so if you contact me by telephone please leave a message with your details for me to respond.
What happens if I cancel?
If you give me less than 48 hours notice then I will have to charge that as a missed session. Otherwise I will work with you to reschedule at a convenient time.
Where am I?
My main psychotherapy rooms are located in Acton, close to Acton Central and Acton main line (Elizabeth line). Easily accessed from Chiswick, Richmond and Ealing.
Couples
Intimacy holds both the heaven and hell of human relationships
– Anne Geraghty
There is a curious dichotomy within the human psyche in the push for freedom and the pull towards merging with another. It seems in an ideal world we should be able to do both at the same time.
Another peculiar flaw, why sex births children and children birth the death of desire. Life seems full of contradictions which bring us together whilst making it so hard to stay together.
We are familiar with the idea of opposites; when it is wet it can’t be dry, when it is hard it can’t be soft and yet we want adventure at the same time as security, control at the same time as excitement.
How can we be safe without being bored?
How can we forgive without being hurt?
How can I attach and still be myself?
It seemed like a good idea in the beginning. Relationships are easiest when we offer our best selves. But what happens after that. When the music stops playing and what once seemed so effortless now feels like hard work.
Communication is key – only with effective communication can we decide if we like what we hear, and where we can go from there. Yet, communication cannot always articulate the hurt, the irrational, the seemingly instinctive, the unspoken. Couples Therapy is a powerful experience where the therapist and the couple work together and where the relationship becomes the client rather than the individuals.
The fee for a couples therapy session is £150 for sixty minutes.
Please contact me and we can talk further.
Sensitivity
If you are reading this page you may have had an inkling about your own levels of sensitivity before today.
For myself, it was a relief to read about the terms HSP – Highly Sensitive Person and SPS – Sensory Processing Sensitivity identifying a trait which described my experience of life so accurately.
Have you ever felt you can feel and hold emotions for longer than other people? Maybe experience emotions more deeply than those around you?
Do you find yourself easily over-stimulated? Affected by some environments more than others? Unable to tolerate social gatherings without a feeling of fatigue or a sense of over absorption?
Does it seem like you react with strong emotions to both positive and negative experiences?
An ability to notice subtle details that other people miss and in a short space of time?
Research has shown 30% of the population process information differently to other people as a result of higher levels of sensitivity.
Emperical studies by Elaine Aron and Michael Pluess are discovering more about sensitivity which is invaluable for developing our understanding of trauma, depression and anxiety.