Therapy

Therapy

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A.C.I.E.S.

Agency

Agency, this is about your freedom to choose. Feeling empowered to take control and take charge. Having the strength in some instances to even say No!

Communication

Communication, the more we can express ourselves, share our thoughts and balance our sharing with listening, I mean really listening, the better our relationships will be. 

Insight

Insight, which helps us to understand ourselves and others, it helps us make sense of our circumstances and is useful for planning our next steps

Embodiment

Embodiment, this is something we ignore at our peril. What we feel in our bodies is sometimes a warning of the toll that the situation we face is having on us. 

Spirituality

Spirituality, an integral part of who we are. Whilst not everyone is religious there is a consciousness that enters our thought process which includes finding meaning, purpose and discovering our destiny.  Spirituality helps us to contemplate the full range of our human experience. 
Areas of counselling
Anger

Anger can significantly impact our quality of life - affecting your relationships, your career and overall well-being. When out of control, anger can become destructive. On the flip side anger helps to relieve built-up energy and tension. Feeling angry is a natural response to certain life experiences. It’s a basic emotion; occurring at times when we come under attack, feel deceived, insulted or frustrated.
Whilst expressing anger can be a healthy way of managing the emotion, when excessive, it can become a problem. Even symptoms of excessive anger may reveal complex issues; it can be a symptom of, and contribute to, certain mental health problems and sometimes make existing problems worse.
However, there are ways to control your anger more effectively and lessen the impact it’s having on your daily life.
Anxiety
 
When feelings of anxiety last a long time it can be overwhelming. Feelings of anxiety is common, the tense or uncertainty about a situation and the potential stress level it may cause, can trigger our 'fight or flight' responses. Anxiety is used to describe feelings of worry, fear and unease. Both our emotional and physical sensations experience agitation when we are worried or nervous. Whilst unpleasant, this is a normal reaction when our body perceives a threat.
Such things as an exam, starting a new job, or moving home will affect us, some of us will be affected more than others.

Bereavement

The experience of someone who was important to you dying, can be difficult to process. You might be finding it difficult to adjust to the changes happening in your life right now. Your beliefs, your routines, and even your sense of normality can be shaken up.
Bereavement is the time we spend adjusting to loss. There is no right or wrong way to feel during the bereavement period - everyone copes in their own way.
Grief, although normal, can manifest in unexpected ways. Bottling up your feelings or denying your sadness can prolong your pain. Some people get angry, some people withdraw into themselves and some people become completely numb. Sometimes, grief can trigger mental health conditions, like depression.
Bereavement counselling can provide support during these very difficult times. Bereavement counselling tries to help people with their loss so they can carry on with life and eventually find acceptance.
Coping Skills

There are many ways to cope with the situation we face, some healthy some destructive. The challenges we face can be emotional in other words how we feel e.g. sad, lonely, angry etc or problem based where you ask 'do I need to change the situation?' e.g. change your behaviour or remove yourself from the situation.  In my experience issues such as work-related stress, suicidal thoughts, sexual problems, or redundancy for example, have not necessarily been the main issue. Gaining meaning and understanding as to what has led to what is the presenting problem can sometimes become the true focus of your journey.
It is important to remember it is your journey and you are in charge. 
Depression

The affect of depression on our daily life can make it hard for you to enjoy day to day activities. On some days just getting out of bed may feel impossible. We all have times where we feel sad, and finding enjoyment in our lives seem distant at best. Then, when you contrast these feelings with other days where you may feel more able to go about your normal daily tasks, making sense of things becomes a real challenge.
Living with depression can be incredibly difficult, for both those suffering and those around them. Due to the nature of the condition, however, seeking help can often be delayed.

Men's Issues



Some of the more traditional ways that men have learned to deal with their emotions can sometimes lead to mental health or relationship difficulties. Common men’s issues: experience of an emotion was unacceptable; underlying anxiety (e.g., performance anxiety) and depression can contribute to sexual difficulties; anger, having disastrous effects on relationships; Partners of men can sometimes feel emotionally distant when they want someone to listen or communicate love.

Therapy can help men identify, preserve and strengthen relationships through learning to deal with, and effectively express emotions in ways that are more adaptive to the situation at hand.

Relationships

Relationships require a great deal of work, including an investment of time, good social skills and energy, to stay strong and go the distance. A healthy relationship with our loved ones, friends and work colleagues allow us to be most productive. These relationships can often be an important source of support, advice, guidance  and love .
However, meaningful relationships are not automatic. Gaining happiness and fulfilment in a relationship requires us to put in the effort. Relationships can be very one-sided and if the two people are not seen as equals, problems can occur, recognising it is a two way street and finding a balance is important. Over time, as we learn new things we gain an understanding of the tipping point of how to achieve fulfilling and supportive relationships. 
However, sometimes relationships break down, for whatever reason, causing us to feel lonely, disappointed and unsure of ourselves. In some cases, our relationships may not be meeting our expectations, the affect being that it impacts our happiness and life satisfaction.  For others, they may crave companionship yet find them very difficult to come by.
Self-esteem

Our Self-esteem is influenced by lots of different things. It could be linked to our attachment style as well as events where we are in the spotlight either being praised or experiencing embarrassment. When we have low self-esteem the way we perceive and value things around us, we can see both ourselves and the world around us in a negative light. The feeling of unhappiness going into a situation may cause you to find it more difficult to cope, leading you to withdraw or even isolation yourself. 
Over time low self-esteem can have a negative impact on our mental health. You may also find having certain mental health conditions impacts your self-esteem.

Stress

Stress is something most people experiences stress can motivate us from time to time, too much or prolonged stress can be damaging to both our physical and mental health.
The causes of stress vary, including work, relationships, family issues and financial problems. The forming of unhealthy coping methods can be an outcome of stress such as smoking or drinking - and while this may feel like a quick fix, ultimately these are covering the issue. Recognising what causes you stress and learning how to control these feelings effectively, is a step in the right direction in feeling good and living a healthier and happy life. 

Trauma

The impact of witnessing or experiencing a stressful event can affect us psychologically as well as emotionally. Your sense of security can be undermined if you feel your safety is threatened or your well being is put at risk. There are many different causes of trauma.The feeling of helplessness can feel crippling leaving our emotional state to be in turmoil, causing an adverse or extreme reaction to similar events.  
The important thing to remember is that it’s not the circumstance or event in itself that signals trauma, but what your emotional experience was of the event. The more frightened or helpless you feel, the more likely you are to be traumatised. For some people a car backfiring would send them running for cover under a table yet of others its just a car backfiring. In another instance seeing a spider could send someone screaming out of the room for others, not bothered at all, in fact would want to hold the spider. This is to say that not everyone will react to the same event in the same way. 

Types of Therapy
Cognitive
Relational Emotive Behavioural Therapy
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy

CBT is based on the concept that your thoughts, feelings, physical sensations and actions are interconnected, and that negative thoughts and feelings can trap you in a vicious cycle.
CBT aims to help you deal with overwhelming problems in a more positive way by breaking them down into smaller parts. You're shown how to change these negative patterns to improve the way you feel.
CBT tends to deal with your current problems, rather than focusing on issues from your past. It looks for practical ways to improve your state of mind on a daily basis.
Psychodynamic
Psychoanalysis
Object Relations
Attachment Theory
The idea of insight is a part of most approaches to therapy. We sometimes refer to therapy as a kind of education, where you learn about how you as an individual actually work. The focus is on improved self-awareness and insight into unconscious thoughts and feelings, which may be rooted in past relationships. In addition to insight therapist would suggest changes in thinking and patterns of relating to others.
Focus is on those unconscious thought process that manifest themselves in an individual's behaviour, by exploring unresolved, unconscious issues from the past that is affecting them in the present.
Psychodynamic therapies focus on revealing and resolving these unconscious conflicts that are driving your symptoms.
Humanistic
Person Centred Therapy
Gestalt
Existential Therapy
Transactional Analysis
The focus is on each person's potential, for personal growth, resilience and achievement of their human potential, whilst seeking a life that is meaningful, challenging and satisfying.
This is based on the belief that all humans are inherently good and feel the need to achieve their full potential. The recognition that all humans are unique with regard their consciousness and freedom to choose as a consequence of learned agency resulting in you trusting yourself to make decisions and solve problems. 

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