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filler@godaddy.com
I offer a collaborative and personalised approach to therapy and coaching, which includes evidence-based practises. During our initial sessions, we will work together to create a care plan designed around your specific needs.
I specialise in providing help with anxiety, depression, trauma, and relationship issues, among others.
My goal as your personal therapist is to help you build resilience, gain insight, and to support you in developing the tools you need to thrive!
We know that taking the first step towards therapy can be hard. That's why we offer a free consultation to help you determine if our practise is the right fit for you. Contact us today to schedule your consultation.
Depression and anxiety are often grouped together because people commonly experience them together. Also, the psychological approach to treating anxiety and depression is often similar.
Understanding depression
Depression is more than purely feeling unhappy or sad for a few days. We all feel down or low in mood from time to time, but depression lasts for weeks or months rather than just a few days.
Thankfully, depression is losing its stigma as people learn about the importance of acknowledging it and accessing suitable support to get through it. Depression is an illness with real symptoms which leave a person often feeling hopeless, overwhelmed and unable to cope.
A lack of understanding of Depression means that people often try to cope alone; unfortunately, life doesn’t come with a set of instructions and we learn our coping behaviours at a very young age. These then become a part of our unconscious thoughts or behaviours.
Unhelpful or negative coping methods actually feed the depression and the only way to gain a full recovery is by allowing yourself the right treatment with a specialist in a safe, caring environment with a qualified and trustworthy practitioner.
Thankfully, there are many therapist’s who understand, listen without judgement and are qualified to support your individual needs, like myself.
Recovery from depression is far from hopeless when you have the right support and you can absolutely find your zest and passion for life again.
Understanding anxiety
Here's an analogy which can often help with anxiety.
Let’s think about the smoke alarm in your home and imagine for a moment that it’s like mine. My smoke alarm is extra sensitive and it goes off each time I boil the kettle or steam a shirt. My alarm quite rightly senses smoke and notes that there is a risk of fire, it sounds an alarm, and in turn I am alerted to a risk. I must then make sure there is no genuine fire - and I fan it until it turns itself off! (ha)
Obviously if there's an actual fire then I take the necessary safety precautions.
Now, whilst I’m grateful for the alarm because it protects my home and family.
It frustrates me when I’m steaming the school uniforms in an evening and it senses steam and wakes the children up- Regardless, I still don’t ever take out the batteries or remove the alarm because I know that one day it might be needed.
In an ideal world, it would be able to learn its environment and respond to alert us only of genuine dangers instead of unlikely ones.
Now lets apply this to our nervous systems. From the start of time, our bodies needed to be able to sense danger. Whether this be back when out hunting for food or whether it be crossing the road. It needs to know when to be on high alert and it does this by using signalling responses and sending out a ‘fight or flight’ response (Nerves, anxieties, adrenaline).
At this point we weigh up whether we can overcome the threat or whether we should run fast (in the opposite direction!).
As you can see, this Fight or Flight response can literally save our lives, BUT in people who suffer from anxiety the body is on high alert all the time (like my smoke alarm!) and it can be physically and emotionally exhausting when our minds sense danger even in unlikely situations- so the side effects of panic, nerves, sweaty palms and adrenaline are a common feeling for the person with anxiety!
The key to treating this problem it is to work with an established professional who will support you to re-train the mind and body to recognise genuine threats and for it to respond appropriately. The key is not ever to turn this response off completely, because anxiety is vital to survival, but it is important for a person to learnt to regulate it and this can be achieved through various therapies including counselling, hypnotherapy and psychotherapy.
Panic attacks
Panic attacks can be incredibly scary and overwhelming. They come on suddenly and cause intense physical sensations like a racing heart, shortness of breath, sweating, dizziness, or even chest pain. It can feel like you're losing control or even having a heart attack. Often, there's no clear trigger, and the fear itself can feel overwhelming.
Its important to remember that panic attacks are temporary and not dangerous. While they feel awful in the moment, they usually peak within minutes and subside within about half an hour. However, the fear of having another attack can be very real, leading to an understandable avoidance of certain situations which can make life pretty tricky and unsettling,.
If you're experiencing panic attacks, you're not alone. Many people deal with them, and there are effective treatments available. Therapy can equip you with tools to manage your anxiety, recognise your triggers, and how to cope with panic attacks when they arise to minimise the impact they have on you, or to reduce them altogether.
With support from a knowledgeable, qualified professional you can learn to take back control and live a full life without fear.
If you're struggling with panic attacks, don't hesitate to reach out for help.
Telephone: +447572 949 611 (Call or TEXT )
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Incase you're wondering, we generally prefer the double choc chip ones. Yum..