Psychotherapy and counselling
Quick Links
Psychotherapy
Psychotherapy means “mind-healing”. In practice it is the treatment of disorders by using psychological methods – in addition to or instead of medical treatments. Psychotherapy is a set of techniques used to treat mental health and emotional problems and some psychiatric disorders. It helps the person to understand and accept their strengths and weaknesses, as well as what makes them feel positive or anxious. Identifying feelings and ways of thinking helps the person to cope with situations they find difficult, and new ways of approaching them.
Psychotherapy began with Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalysis n 1894. But since the mid-20th century there have been other approaches. Today the term psychotherapy includes many different forms of help given by a trained professional to individuals, couples and groups.
Main types of psychotherapy
Psychodynamic Therapy – based on psychoanalysis – for e.g anxiety, depression, eating disorders, grief, panic, phobias, psychosomatic illnesses, relationship problems and stress.
Behavioural Therapy – based on learning theories – for e,g,removing fear, desensitizing extreme fear or phobias, aversion therapy, behaviour modification.
Cognitive Therapy – based on changing thinking – e.g. Cognitive Behavioural therapy (CBT), Rational Emotive Behaviour therapy ( REBT), Cognitive Restructuring Therapy (CRT) – for phobias, schizophrenia, Chronic Fatigue syndrome, bulimia nervosa, depression, anxiety.
Humanistic Therapy – based on assisting individuals to achieve their own goals ( many “counsellors” are trained in humanistic approaches, based on Carl Rogers’ non – directive, Person Centred Therapy (PCT) but also use cognitive and behavioural therapies too.)
Group Therapy – getting people in similar situations to help each other
Family Therapy- for the individual, the nuclear family, or an extended network – the focus is on the relationships between the people.
Solution Focused Therapy – Solution focused brief therapy is brief and effective. Research shows it to bring about lasting change on average in less than 5 sessions and in up to 83% of referrals. It can be brief because it is future, possibility focused and because it works with the strengths of those who come by making the best use of their resources, and it can bring about lasting change precisely because it aims to build solutions rather than solve problems.
Counselling
Counselling is the process of creating a climate where the individual feels accepted and is encouraged to talk freely about their feelings. The therapist enables the individual to explore options, choose appropriate solutions and make decisions.
Counselling and psychotherapy are similar in that they are both a dynamic process which varies according to the needs of the person and their circumstances. It is also a problem solving process. Problems and potential solutions are explored. They help the individual draw on their inner resources.
When life is disrupted by individual, relationship, family or work-related problems, psychotherapy and counselling can help. Working in a quiet, confidential setting, talking things through with a fully trained psychotherapist or counsellor will reveal possible ways of changing things for the better.
Psychotherapy and counselling are often referred to as ‘the talking cure’, they are not so much a cure as support and guidance offered to people of all ages, to help resolve difficulties in life when they have felt too stressed or overwhelmed to make any headway. That can happen for many reasons: illness, loss or bereavement, work or education pressures, relationship difficulties, life crises past and present.
Confiding in family and friends, if available, may often help but is not always easy or appropriate. This is where the experienced therapist can assist in helping you towards a deeper understanding of yourself and your thoughts, feelings and actions. Psychotherapy and Counselling can help you to clarify the situation, understanding what is happening, and gain new confidence, control and choice in life.
Hypnotherapy
The History of Hypnosis
Hypnotic or suggestive therapy is believed to be one of the oldest of all healing techniques. Healing through touch and prayer became the major way of treating illness during the middle ages, then in the 18th Century Franz Anton Mesmer (hence the phrase ‘ feeling mesmerised’) found that amazing cures could be produced using trance. An Englishman – James Braid took up this work again during the 19th Century and discovered that profound trance and deep healing state could be induced using simple suggestion. He called this technique Hypnosis.
What is Hypnotherapy?
Hypnotherapy is the combination of a range of therapeutic methods using hypnosis for the rapid, effective treatment and relief of a variety of physical and psychological conditions. It is an entirely safe, drug-free therapy, so there are no harmful side effects. In 1955 the British Medical Association endorsed the practice of Hypnosis in the training of Doctors at Medical School and since then it has become a valuable addition to conventional medical treatment. Research and development of new techniques supports the on going growth of Hypnosis as a technique that is effective in the treatment of so many clinical and psychological conditions today.
If you have ever daydreamed or become so engrossed in a book that time seems to have flown by; if you have felt sleepy during a car or train journey – then you have experienced a trance state!
The experience of hypnosis is similar: neither asleep nor awake and a little like daydreaming, with a pleasant feeling of deep relaxation behind it all. While you achieve this state of mind the therapist helps you to focus your attention to the issue you want resolving – and enable your mind to create new pathways to help you achieve what you want – and all this whilst feeling totally calm and relaxed.
It is a fact that no-one can be hypnotised against their will and even when hypnotised, a person can still reject any suggestion. Thus therapeutic hypnosis ( or hypnotherapy) is a state of purposeful co-operation.
How can Hypnotherapy help?
Hypnotherapy is medically accepted to benefit the following:
It provides relief from:
- General aches & pains
- Migraine
- Eczema & skin rashes
- Asthma
- Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)
- Arthritis
It supports conventional medicine in the treatment of:
- Hypertension (High Blood Pressure)
- Pain Control
- Anxiety and Stress
- Cancer
It frees you from:
- Phobias
- Sleeping Difficulties
- Compulsions
- Panic Attacks
- Past Traumas
It helps you to develop strategies for:
- increasing workloads
- weight control & eating disorders
- improving sporting performance
- studying and concentration
- building self-confidence and potential
It helps break unwanted habits, like:
- Smoking
- Nail biting
- Binge eating or drinking
- Compulsions
Hypnotherapy is very effective in:
- Teaching you relaxation techniques
- Helping you with anxiety through medical diagnostics – e.g endoscopy
- Preparing you for surgery
- Supporting post operative recovery.
Clinical Hypnotherapy
Clinical Hypnotherapy means using hypnosis to treat a variety of medical and psychological problems. It is estimated that 85% of people will readily respond to clinical hypnotherapy. It may even succeed where other, more conventional methods of treatment have not produced the desired results. When carried out by a professionally trained and skilled hypnotherapist, the benefits can be long lasting and often permanent. It is natural and safe, with no harmful side effects.
Cognitive Behavioural Hypnotherapy (CBH).
CBH uses a combination of CBT, psychotherapy and Hypnotherapy. i.e. a combination of talking therapy and hypnotherapy. It has been found to more effective at integrating more lasting change than CBT on its own, since the use of hypnotherapy allows the out of conscious mind ( unconscious mind) to process at a much deeper level what has been discussed at a conscious level ( the critical conscious mind), making the change process seem easier to implement.
Our approach
Your first session will last up to 1.5 hours, during which time the therapist will take down a detailed case study and agree a treatment plan with you. Any questions you have will also be answered. With the help of the therapist you will start to focus on your issue and explore solutions.
Subsequent sessions are likely to last between 1-2 hours. You will experience the calm and relaxing state of hypnosis as you move towards a long-lasting and possibly permanent solution to your difficulty.
How many treatments will I need?
This is variable. Most people require a course of between 4 and 6 treatments. If you have had symptoms for a number of years, you may require treatment over several months. Habit breaking and help with stop smoking have specific treatment protocols. During your initial meeting with your hypnotherapist will be able to give you an indication of the number of treatments you may require.
Anne Calleja has over 25 years of experience in both business and private therapy. She is a qualified Ericksonian and Clinical Hypnotherapist, Psychotherapist, NLP Practitioner and Trainer. Anne specialises in using Solution Focused Therapy, Symbolic modelling , CBH and EMDR – all interventions known to have considerable success in resolving unresolved issues.
A member of the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy, British Psychological Society, International Coaching Federation. Anne is also an accredited psychotherapist and registered with UKCP. She regularly updates her expertise through continued professional development and clinical supervision.
What is NLP?
Anne is an NLPtCA accredited psychotherapist, Master NLP Practitioner and Trainer
“If you do what you always did you will get what you always got”
NLP stands for Neuro-Linguistic Programming, a name that encompasses the three most influential components involved in producing human experience: neurology, language and programming.
The neurological system regulates how our bodies function, language determines how we interface and communicate with other people and our programming determines the kinds of models of the world we create. Neuro-Linguistic Programming describes the fundamental dynamics between mind (neuro) and language (linguistic) and how their interplay effects our body and behaviour (programming).
NLP is a pragmatic school of thought – an ‘epistemology’ – that addresses the many levels involved in being human. NLP is a multi-dimensional process that involves the development of behavioral competence and flexibility, but also involves strategic thinking and an understanding of the mental and cognitive processes behind behavior. NLP provides tools and skills for the development of states of individual excellence, but it also establishes a system of empowering beliefs and presuppositions about what human beings are, what communication is and what the process of change is all about. At another level, NLP is about self-discovery, exploring identity and mission. It also provides a framework for understanding and relating to the ‘spiritual’ part of human experience that reaches beyond us as individuals to our family, community and global systems. NLP is not only about competence and excellence, it is about wisdom and vision.
What Is Neuro Linguistic Psychotherapy & Counselling?
Simply put, psychotherapy and counselling are ways to understand how and why we do and think the way that we do. The objective is to use this understanding to improve our lives by making changes that seek to achieve our goals and dreams.
Neuro Linguistic Psychotherapy (NLPt) is a specialised form of Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP). The idea is that we work from and react to the world as we construct it from our experiences rather than directly from the “real world”. We build our own unique models or maps of the world. Although all such maps are genuine to each of us, no one map is fully able to represent the “real world”. Further, NLP is a way of exploring how people think, identifying success and then applying these successful actions or even beliefs in ways that work. This has proved practical and effective in a wide range of applications and situations. Using this form of what is called “modelling” change can be quite quick.
NLPt is broad based and draws on concepts from many areas of psychology and psychotherapy. Influences stem from the Gestalt ‘school’, the family therapy of Virginia Satir, Ericksonian brief therapy, and humanistic psychology. There are also clear links with the fields of systems theory, behavioural psychology and linguistics.
What happens in the therapy?
The Neuro-Linguistic Psychotherapist and Counsellor will seek to help you, the client, to identify your desired state i.e. your goals and dreams. You’ll then seek to achieve them by using your own and new resources and skills. This can involve you in experimenting with changing beliefs that limit your success, identifying new beliefs, and/or gaining insights into patterns of your behaviour, which help you to have more choices.
Whilst your personal history is taken as relevant to how you are now, the emphasis will be on how you create how you are today from experiences past and present as well as your ideas about your future. The main focus is on how rather than why. In general people have three main responses when experiencing the world.
AS human beings we need to make sense of ‘our world’ and in order to do this we can:
- ‘delete’ – we choose to ignore some of our experiences.
- ‘generalise’ – we create universal rules from single experiences.
- ‘distort’ – we create connections and meanings from and between experiences that may not have been meant and that may or may not be helpful.
Your NLP Psychotherapist or Counsellor will be paying close attention to the words that you use, your body language and your behaviour. From this she or he will suggest how you create how you are and changes can be made that will help you become more in control of your life – now and in your future.
This means that you will learn new skills that will help you to achieve measurable success. Your NLP Psychotherapist or Counsellor will help you define these measures so that you will know when your work is complete.
Accreditation
To practice NLP psychotherapy you should be an accredited and registered member of NLPtCA and UKCP. Members agree to abide by the Code of Ethics and Complaints Procedures of NLPtCA. If they are practising as psychotherapists and/or counsellors they have also agreed to maintain professional liability and malpractice insurance.
EMDR
Eye Movement De-sensitising and Re- processing
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, or EMDR, is a powerful new psychotherapy technique which has been very successful in helping people who suffer from trauma, anxiety, panic, disturbing memories, post traumatic stress and many other emotional problems. Until recently, these conditions were difficult and time-consuming to treat. EMDR is considered a breakthrough therapy because of its simplicity and the fact that it can bring quick and lasting relief for most types of emotional distress.
EMDR is one of the most effective and rapid method for healing PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) as shown by extensive scientific research studies.
The EMDR therapy uses bilateral stimulation, right/left eye movement, or tactile stimulation, which repeatly activates the opposite sides of the brain, releasing emotional experiences that are “trapped” in the nervous system. This assists the neurophysiological system, the basis of the mind/body connection, to free itself of blockages and reconnect itself.
As troubling images and feelings are processed by the brain via the eye-movement patterns of EMDR, resolution of the issues and a more peaceful state are achieved.
How Does It Work?
The therapist works gently with the client and asks him/her to revisit the traumatic moment or incident, recalling feelings surrounding the experience, as well as any negative thoughts, feelings and memories. The therapist then holds her fingers about eighteen inches from the clients face and begins to move them back and forth like a windshield wiper. The client tracks the movements as if watching ping pong. The more intensely the client focuses on the memory, the easier it becomes for the memory to come to life. As quick and vibrant images arise during the therapy session, they are processed by the eye movements, resulting in painful feelings being exchanged for more peaceful, loving and resolved feelings.
What problems are helped by EMDR?
The studies to date show a high degree of effectiveness with the following conditions:
- loss of a loved one
- injury of a loved one
- car accident
- fire
- work accident
- assault
- robbery
- rape
- natural disaster
- injury
- illness
- witness to violence
- childhood abuse
- victims of violent crimes
- performance and test anxiety
- trauma
- depression
- anxiety or panic
- phobias
- fears
- childhood trauma
- physical abuse
- sexual abuse
- post traumatic stress
- bad temper
- overwhelming fears
- panic attacks
- low self-esteem
- relationship problems
- brooding or worrying
- trouble sleeping
The EMDR technique is most effective when used in conjunction with other traditional methods of therapy in treating these and many other emotional disorders.
EMDR therapy can help clients replace their anxiety and fear with positive images, emotions and thoughts.
What are the Symptoms that can be helped by EMDR?
- High anxiety and lack of motivation
- Depression
- Memories of a traumatic experience
- Unrealistic feelings of guilt and shame
- Fear of being alone
- Difficulty in trusting others
- Relationship problems
What is the History of EMDR?
Since the initial medical study in 1989 positive therapeutic results with EMDR have been reported with the following populations:
- People who have witnessed or been a victim to a disaster (rape, accidents, earth quakes, fires, murder, gang related violence)
- Clients suffering from PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder)
- Suffers of panic disorders and anxiety attacks
- Suffers of phobias
- Chemically dependent clients
- Persons exposed to excess loss ( loss by death, divorce, loss of a house by fire)
- Crime victims and police officers who were once overcome with violent memories
- Accident or burn victims
Although a fairly new therapeutic technique, EMDR is meeting with much success all across the county. EMDR is a natural process. The client and the therapist become partners on a journey to help move traumatic and blocked energy. Together they work to transcend and free up the energy, so the client can return to their natural grounded state of being. The goal of this work is to help the client heal, so they can return to their life in peace.
How do I know if EMDR is right for me?
There are a number factors to consider when evaluating the appropriateness of EMDR therapy for a client’s particular situation and history. During your initial consultation with a trained EMDR therapist, all the relevant factors will be discussed in full to help you both come to a decision to move forward with EMDR.
Anne completed her EMDR training alongside her post graduate Clinical Hypnotherapy training, and combines hypnotherapeutic interventions with EMDR, which helps to integrate new thoughts, beliefs and reactions to the past trauma.
The initial session is 1.5 hours, where we take a case history and agree the most appropriate approach for you. Further sessions may be 1 – 1.5 hours and need to be at one week intervals for the initial 4- 6 sessions, depending on the issue to be resolved.