Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is recommended by The National Institute of Clinical Evidence (NICE)  to be effective for different disorders. Many hundreds of clinical trials have provided evidence to show it is an effective talking treatment for a variety of disorders.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy is collaborative and recognises that each individual brings a range of expertise and knowledge to the process. I will work in partnership with you in order to explore your individual needs.

In the first few sessions I will provide an assessment of what is troubling you. I can begin to develop a detailed  understanding of your difficulties and what may be maintaining them. This will be ‘mapped out’ on paper and given to you to help you begin to understand how your problems may be maintained, this is referred to as developing a formulation. Simply this means us working together to make sense of how your past experiences, thoughts, beliefs, emotional states, physical symptoms and behavioural patterns may serve to maintain your difficulties.I can then advise you of how to move forward.

What is Compassion Focused Therapy.

Developed by Professor Paul Gilbert the approach has growing evidence that developing the feelings of compassion for one’s self and others can have a positive impact on our body, brain and mind. Research evidence suggests that developing feelings of compassion can have a profound impact on our physical and mental health, relationships, and general well-being. Compassion Focused Therapy has been shown to be successful for people who experience feelings of guilt and shame and who are self-critical.

The aim of the therapy is to  identify and change unhelpful thoughts (cognitive) and behaviours (behavioural styles) that stop us achieving our life goals. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy will help you identify and alter unhelpful thoughts, modify unhelpful beliefs changing behaviour and how we relate to others.

• Cognitive Behavioural Therapy is time limited and I will work in partnership with you to tailor the therapy to your unique needs.
  Each sessions last for an hour depending on what you feel is right for you anything from 6 to 25 sessions. I will talk to you on a regular basis throughout the process so you can review how things are going and discuss the ending of therapy.
• It has been found that therapy may be  enhanced if you do some out of session work, possibly keeping a diary, reading some information or  trying out new things, I will discuss with you what will be most relevant to your achieving your goals.
• Cognitive Behavioural Therapy is one of many talking therapies available. If after assessment we decide a different talking therapy may be more suitable for you I  can signpost you accordingly.

I will help you gain a perspective about whatever is troubling you. Together we can identify what might be stopping you from reaching your full potential and what action you need to take to improve your situation. I am trained to look beyond presenting problems to possible underlying causes. The aim of the therapeutic process is to help you understand and accept yourself, to modify your behaviour and thought processes to that which is more productive and to move towards the kind of person you want to be.

I will offer you warmth and understanding, listening in a way that helps you to identify what is important to you and offering you the opportunity to make changes.

There are many forms of therapy to choose from. As each person is an individual with unique experiences I adapt formulations and treatment to meet the individual needs of the client. I take a collaborative approach and you will be encouraged to take an active part in the treatment process. Goals for therapy will be devised followed by realistic in between session tasks aimed at you getting the best from the sessions.

The use of EMDR has been recommended by The Department of Health’s National Institute of Clinical Excellence. (NICE) in the guidelines they issued on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in 2005. This reflects the evidence for its effectiveness which has been collected from clinicians and researchers.

If something traumatic has happened to you (whether it be a car accident, abuse or something seemingly less significant like being humiliated), the memory of your experience may come crashing back into your mind, forcing you to relive the original event with the same intensity of feeling – like it is taking place in the present moment.

These experiences that pop into your awareness may present themselves as either flashbacks or nightmares, and are thought to occur because the mind was simply too overwhelmed during the event to process what was going on.

As a result, these unprocessed memories and the accompanying sights, sounds, thoughts and feelings are stored in the brain in ‘raw’ form, where they can be accessed each time we experience something that triggers a recollection of the original event.

While it isn’t possible to erase these memories, the process of Eye Movement Desensitisation Reprocessing (EMDR) can alter the way these traumatic memories are stored within the brain – making them easier to manage and causing you less distress.

Examples of what EMDR has been used to treat are,

• Assault.
• A road traffic accident.
• A natural disaster like a flood or fire or very severe storm.
• Neglect or bullying in childhood.
• Admission to hospital with sudden mental illness.
• Experiences associated with war or being a refugee.
• Phobias, anxieties of various sorts and pain, but its most familiar use remains in the treatment of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

What is the therapy like?
I will carry out a thorough assessment of your difficulties this will help me to ascertain whether EMDR is suitable for the problems you have described. You will be asked about your difficulties, whether you have physical problems, if you are taking medication, and what support you have available to you.

I will spend time doing preparatory exercises, possibly a ‘safe place’ procedure, or breathing retraining, or deep muscle relaxation.

Time is taken to explain the therapy and address any concerns you may have. A lot of importance is attached to giving you a sense of being in control of what happens in the work.

The unusual feature of the therapy is the way in which I as a therapist seek to target the sources of your distress by stimulating the two sides of your brain (Its left and right hemispheres). Usually this is done by eye movements. You watch as I pass my hand fairly rapidly backwards and forwards across your field of vision while at the same time I will help you to recall the difficult experience from the past. At all times you are conscious and the procedure is entirely safe.

How does EMDR work.
When people are involved in a distressing event they may find themselves overwhelmed by it. Their minds are unable to process what has occurred in the way this normally happens as an event becomes distant and takes its place in the memory.

Instead the event or events become frozen and is sometimes intensely and repeatedly relived, as if it were happening right now and not a while ago. The alternating left right stimulation of the brain with eye movements or by some other means, seems to unblock the system. The distressing events become less intense and less immediate, and more like ordinary memories.

Length of treatment.
With the simpler traumas and distressing events of adult life. EMDR can be very rapid in its effects, and average treatment times for these kinds of problems are from three to five sessions. With more complex ones, which have been endured for longer, or which happened when you were young. EMDR is more likely to be included as a bigger piece of work, one which may stretch over a number of months.

Further sources of information.
National Institute of Clinical Excellence.
www.nice.co.uk

A website outlining the research evidence can be found at
www.emdr-europe.org/research.htm