Counselling
Counselling services in Billericay, Essex
Counselling is a form of Talk Therapy that helps individuals with psychological and emotional issues to explore their difficulties in a safe and confidential setting.
There are many reasons why we all need to speak to a counsellor at some point in our life. It does not have to be after experiencing a traumatic event but it often can be.
Counselling can help individuals when they are experiencing personal difficulties such as exam stress, bereavement, relationship problems, family problems, harassment, bullying, anxiety, depression, eating disorders, or dealing with stress whether work or personal, or to overcome a phobia – for example sickness phobias, animal phobias or agoraphobia to name but a few.
People come to therapy when they need a non-biased person who doesn’t know them to help them to work through a dilemma they may be facing. People also come to therapy when they are trying to come to terms with understanding what ADHD & ADD is and to understand what OCD means. In other words, there are lots of reasons why people seek therapy at difficult times in their life.
The opportunity for a client to think and talk about a difficulty(ies) they may be facing in their life in a safe, calm, confidential and non-judgemental environment can not only bring about a sense of relief to that person but also helps them make meaningful changes to their life and their relationships.
Counselling can help individuals make sense of difficulties they experience which affect their mood, their behaviour, their feelings, their thoughts and even their physiological well-being.
There are different forms of Counselling (whether it be Adult, Child or Couple Counselling). So it may be helpful to familiarise yourself with the different modalities of therapies available to you.
I provide Person centred Integrative Counselling, Solution Focused Brief Therapy, Bereavement Counselling, Transactional Analysis (TA), Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Child & Young Adult Counselling, Couple Counselling and Family Therapy. In addition, I provide EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing) Therapy for Adults and Children which is normally, but not only for the treatment of PTSD.
I specialise in Anxiety and Depression from Mild to Severe / Deep; including sleep problems and sleep issues. Having experienced these issues personally myself, I am hugely successful at being able to help clients and their families understand what Depression and Anxiety are all about. Additionally, I am able to assist families to come to terms with the issues that are present whilst at the same time enabling the client to learn different coping strategies whilst in the process of helping them to get better again.
I also have had lots of success with Clients with ADHD and their families. This may be because I myself present with ADHD as does my daughter so I have both personal and professional experience and knowledge there I am successful at helping clients get the best out of ADHD / ADD.
See below a brief description of the different forms of Counselling available to you.
CBT or Cognitive Behavioural Therapy uses the power of the mind by helping clients challenge self-debilitating thoughts that affect their thinking, feeling, behaviour, mood, actions as well as their physiology. CBT helps clients think differently so that they can change the things in life that they want to change. CBT is especially effective with Clinical Depression, OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorders), Phobias, Sleep problems, addictions, Healthy Eating and Weight Reduction to name but a few.
Play therapy is about helping troubled children cope with difficult life events. Play is the medium of communication because it is the way children make sense of their world. Play therapy can be Non-directive Play, Focused Play, Collaborative Play or Cognitive Behavioural Play Therapy (CBPT) therapy. The techniques used are designed to promote a general release of emotions.
This is when different and distinct approaches to counselling converge and are used together.
Secular Couple counselling means helping couples reach the best outcome for their specific issues by helping them talk about their feelings with one another in a strictly confidential, non-judgemental and non-side taking setting. It is only by exploring these often difficult issues with each other that a solution can be explored, discussed and decided upon.
EMDR or Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing is a form of therapy that helps to liberate clients who are living in the past to move into a healthy and productive present.
EMDR therapy’s success is based on following a strict 8 Phase EMDR treatment Protocol. It has a sound theoretical framework based on the understanding of neurology and has a body of published research to demonstrate its effectiveness. EMDR Therapy is effective on Adults and Children.
EMDR is achieving positive outcomes with an ever increasing breadth of trauma-related mental health problems. EMDR manages to take a trauma that an individual has been enduring for a lifetime by turning it from a living nightmare to a simple log of memories that never troubles the individual again.
It is highly effective for treatment of trauma – PTSD – depression, anxiety, obsessive compulsive disorder, pain including phantom pain and phobias.
This is when different and distinct approaches to counselling converge and are used together.
NLP describes Neuro-Linguistic Programming which is the Psychology of Excellence. It is based on the premise that if one person can do ‘it’ (the model of excellence) then it is possible to model ‘it’ and teach ‘it’ to others.
This is based on the model that encourages personal growth and development. Clients are encouraged to explore their feelings by taking responsibility for their own actions and thoughts. Humanistic and Client/Person Centred are often used interchangeably.
Clients are encouraged to focus on solutions to issues rather than dwelling on the past. It is normally brief therapy taking about 3 – 4 sessions.
TA or Transactional Analysis is a theory of personality and is based on the belief that everyone has 3 parts to their personality; Child, Adult and Parent known as the Ego State Model. It helps people understand how they function and how they express themselves in terms of their behaviour; communication and even how they live out their life. Clients are encouraged to use this type of therapy where there is a need for understanding of individuals, relationships and communication. So a counsellor in helping a client understand themselves better would bring to their attention the behaviours within each part of their personality they are in so that they are able to change them, or at the least understand the consequence of their actions in relation to their feelings and experiences.
TA is a powerful tool in communication and management.
TA is also a highly effective model for parenting.
I have helped clients – including children with:
- Clinical Anxiety and Clinical Depression – Mild to Severe, including helping suicidal clients.
- Family Therapy particularly helpful when Severe Depression a presenting issue
- Relationship / Family issues
- Major Life Changes
- Coping with divorce / Separation
- Coming to terms with Death of a loved one or a pet – including through suicide.
- Stress Management
- Sleep Problems and establishing Sleep-Promoting Habits
- Understanding Narcissism & Narcissistic behaviour
- Parenting Issues
- Managing financial difficulties
- Weight Management Issues
- Overcoming Negative Self Talk
- Stopping bad habits
- Managing phobias including; sickness, animal and agoraphobias to name but a few
- Drugs & Alcohol problems – although not addictions
- Children
- helping them come to terms with difficult life events – separation; divorce; bereavement
- helping them address, understand and deal with anger issues
- helping build their self-confidence and self-esteem
- working with children with Autism helping them sleep better, eat better, be calmer and therefore helping the family as a whole
- helping children deal with suicidal thoughts
- helping children come to terms with abuse issues – sexual and physical, as well as all forms of bullying
- helping children understand what fuels them to self-harm and also find positive alternatives for self-harming
- helping a client come to terms with Domestic Violence and ultimately deal with the issues present.
Before you decide whether Counselling or indeed any form of Psychotherapy is the right form of therapy for you, it is a good idea to come to your first session with a list of questions. This way you are able to set aside any anxieties you may have about counselling, whilst at the same time seeing whether you are likely to get on with your counsellor and if they will be understanding of your situation.
It is important to remember that any professional counsellor will not feel offended if you decide Counselling or the Therapist is not right for you. It is also crucial to understand that a Counsellor/Psychotherapist who is on the BACP Register of Counsellors and Psychotherapists means that they demonstrate professionalism and recognition within the health and social care sector.
