I often hear the words ‘I feel out of control’. Life can throw up challenges that are overwhelming. Sometimes we self-medicate by over-drinking/eating/shopping/over exercising/becoming obsessive with technology….or whatever poison you choose! Going back to the root of the problem and understanding how to support ourselves during stressful times helps build flexibility and strength.
We are the meaning makers of our life and therapy helps us to understand our story.
I see people who are struggling with loss, identity, depression, trauma, anxiety, issues with relationships and stresses within their families. I listen to your body, emotions, and stuck negative thought patterns. I work by attuning to you and building a trusting relationship. I am interested in bringing together the threads of your life and helping you to connect to that deeper part that knows where you are going.
Some life challenges are difficult but they help us develop aspects of our self, new qualities and inner strength. Therapy can help us gain perspective and support.
Other challenges can be utterly destabilising. Raising deep questions such as…Who am I? What is the point? Therapy can provide support with these feelings of loss, grief, depression and helplessness.
Trauma happens when we experience something that we are not able to absorb into our body and make sense of. ‘Too much, too fast, too soon.’ It triggers our survival response, fight, flight, freeze, and faint. When we are not able to discharge these body sensations we separate off this part of ourselves so that we don’t have to re-experience the helplessness and overwhelm.
Trauma can appear as single event such as accidents, life threatening illnesses….or the traumas of childhood, development trauma and relational trauma.
When we integrate trauma and make sense of it we are able to live more fully.
Our first relationship is with our Mother. We live in her womb for 9 months. We absorb her emotions & rely on her for our survival. Our father makes up the other half of who we are, even if he is not present.
These are our blueprints for relating and we bring them unconsciously to our relationships. If they have been healthy they give us a good foundation. If they have been difficult we can find ourselves recreating painful experiences. This is our starting point.