Therapies
I work with a wide presentation of psychological problems.
In our initial sessions we will choose together the therapeutic approach that best suits your needs and establish short and longer term goals that you would like to achieve. We will regularly review the course of your progress in therapy. The therapy will be tailored to your personal needs and requirements and conducted in a safe space, whether online or in face-to-face sessions.
Schema Therapy
Schema Therapy is a well established, emotion-based form of psychological therapy developed for people who have recurrent and more persistent psychological problems. Schemas or Early Maladaptive Schemas as they are called are recurrent patterns of thoughts, memories, feelings and behaviour that have developed from childhood into adulthood when core emotional needs are not fulfilled as a child and continue to not be met as adults. We all have core emotional needs that need to be met to develop into emotionally secure adults. Core emotional needs are about forming safe and caring attachments with others, having a sense of self-identity and freedom of self-expression, being able to play and be spontaneous, and the ability to accept limits and boundaries.
Everyone develops schemas to some extent, but some people have had traumatic or neglectful childhood experiences or experienced bullying and had a number of basic emotional needs not met. This can lead to stronger maladaptive or unhelpful schemas that can significantly impact someone’s quality of life.
Schema Therapy uses a range of interventions to initially identify and understand schemas and ways of coping followed by working towards emotional healing at a core level. Schema therapy relies on a strong therapeutic relationship in which the client feels comfortable and emotionally safe and the schematherapist focuses on meeting the client’s core emotional needs that went unmet in childhood.
Schema Therapy has a significant [scientific] evidence base showing effectiveness in treating longstanding complex mental health issues including: chronic depression, persistent anxiety, eating disorders, body image issue and personality disorders (borderline personality disorder, narcissistic personality disorder, avoidant, obsessive compulsive disorder, and dependent personality disorders).
CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy)
What is CBT?
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) examines the relationship between behaviours and unhelpful or irrational thoughts and problematic emotions. Our thoughts directly affect how we feel and what we do. For example, if we think we are going to fail at something, we may feel anxious and avoid trying out a task. In CBT we work to modify the way you think and behave to improve how you feel.
What issues can CBT help with?
CBT is an evidence-based therapy which has proven effective in helping people to manage a variety of problems such as depression, anxiety, panic disorder, phobias, post traumatic stress disorder and obsessive compulsive disorder to name a few. Learning to recognize one’s distortions in thinking that are creating problems, and then to re-evaluate them in the light of reality.
CBT places an emphasis on helping individuals learn to be their own therapists. Through exercises in the session as well as “homework” exercises outside of sessions, patients are helped to develop coping skills, whereby they can learn to change their own thinking and behaviour thereby influencing their emotions in a positive way.
CBT tends to focus more on what is going on in the patient’s current life, rather than what has led up to their difficulties. A certain amount of biographical background information may be needed, but the focus is primarily on moving forward in time to develop more effective ways of coping with life.
Couples Therapy
Couples Therapy has been shown to support improved emotional awareness in couples, behavioural change, listening and communication skills, joint problem solving, conflict management, relationship resilience and the development of shared values.
The main models I use in my Couples Therapy are CBT for Couples and Schematherapy for couples.
Cognitive Behavioural Couples Therapy is a structured approach for identifying, understanding and resolving unhealthy patterns of conflict, communication and emotional distress in close personal relationships while Schematherapy for couples looks into how to change older maladaptive patterns from childhood persisting in adulthood and how couples can learn to help each other to change the negative effects of this on the quality of the relationship.