Areas of specialism
Depression
If you're finding you're stuck in a low mood that rarely seems to lift you may be experiencing a certain level of depression. You might find it difficult to see things in a positive way and slowly start to expect the worst from situations.
You may just be feeling empty and numb and the way you're feeling may be isolating as you may have psychologically and physically retreated from others through anxiety. Once you decide to seek professional support through counselling, you can start to examine what might have led to and what may be compounding these feelings.
Anxiety, confidence and self-esteem
We need a healthy level of anxiety to stay safe, to signal whom to trust and when to be cautious but intense anxiety can be extremely difficult to live with and can lead to depression. It can be triggered by life events and it can also start to affect your life if you feel that it is preventing you from living in the way you want to. It can affect your ability to interact socially, your sleep patterns or even your ability to function and think clearly.
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Through counselling you can start to explore the origins of this anxiety and look at ways to support yourself so that you can understand these feelings and move forward. Historically reinforced messages can affect your self-esteem. Working together we can identify ways to recognise this and begin to embrace new thoughts and beliefs.
Relationship issues
Whether it be with your partner, a work colleague or family member, difficulty in relationships often leads to anxiety, low self confidence or depression. In individual therapy, we look at the dynamics of the relationship that concerns you, whether any patterns emerge and to see if we can examine the root cause.
Maybe you feel exhausted by always being the one to keep relationships on an even keel. Or perhaps you're resentful as you're always the one who bends in relationships and are starting to feel like you're not being heard. Together we find ways of achieving the sustainable change that you're comfortable with. Counselling can support you with the hurdles faced during divorce or separation.
Bereavement & Loss
If you're going through a difficult time due to a loss counselling can help you to understand your grief in all its complexities. Grief can feel like a tug of war between the painful experience of missing your loved one and a desire to keep living and moving forward.
Gradually through embracing the memories and a lost future, counselling can assist you in the process of coming to terms with the reality of how you begin to live with what's happened. Needless to say, every person's experience of grief is different and you will find your own pace to work through your loss.
Managing anger
Healthy anger, such as frustration, irritation or annoyance is helpful and enables us to assert ourselves when we need to. If you're finding your anger is difficult to control, rises without notice, is out of proportion with the situation or is difficult to recover from, counselling can help in several ways.
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Recognising what triggers your anger and its physical effects on you (eg. your breathing or muscular tension) can help to manage the intensity of your angry reactions. Your relationship with anger that has developed through experiences in your family or during education will inform how you deal with frustrations of life. Unresolved anger can lead to unwanted behaviours and can manifest in physical ailments.