Holistic Psychotherapy

When we hold onto fear our energy body is no longer able to return to it’s natural rhythm of letting go.  Our mind becomes full of anxious thoughts and the cycle of anxiety and fear tighten their grip.  Its presence is overwhelming, suffocating the space within you and vacuuming the joy from your every now moment. The more that we want these sensations, emotions and feelings to disappear, the more they prevail.  There are many ways to work with anxiety, medications, cognitive behaviour therapy to help change your thought’s but this is not for everyone.  Unless we understand the root cause of our anxiety and what it is trying to tell you, it is hard to reduce it’s power.

What is it that it needs you to pay attention to?
We have to turn towards it and ask what it needs.

During the course of therapy, we will work to unearth the true origin of your anxiety. The work is to help you to recognise your triggers and internal warming signs and to provide the tools you need to break the bodies sensations down and deal with them one at a time.

Do you have a loud negative voice?
A voice that can be cruel and unkind?
An internal voice that you accept without question or dialogue?

Often the ‘inner critic’ is born in childhood and echoes experiences or people that we were powerless against.  It may have developed to protect us …. to not speak up so not be noticed, to avoid being shamed …there are many reasons.  Regardless of how it came to be, we reach a stage when it no longer servers us but it still resides deep within.  Without attention, it becomes a habitual visitor, firmly in the drivers seat wreaking havoc in our lives.

In working with the inner critic, we need to understand what is happening at the ‘edge’.  This is the space between your primary identity (what you identify with) and your secondary process (unconscious but something’s you are aware of).  Understanding the quality of this disturbing energy.

Our inner critic is not used to being challenged!

It requires us to go deeper to wrestle with it, challenge it and  to understand it’s origin and power.  It takes practice but with ongoing work but you can shift and transform.

“Trauma is not the story of something that happened back then. It’s the current imprint of that pain, horror, and fear living inside people.”

Our bodies hold on to past traumas which are reflected in our body language, our posture, our dreams and our expressions. It can manifest into physical body symptoms.  When we hold onto trauma, we can have difficulty regulating emotions, experience hypervilliginace have trouble sleeping, self-harming, addictions, numbing of emotions, avoidance of places and people. Trauma affects our sense of self, our worth and frequently leaves us holding onto shame.  I work with acute, chronic and complex trauma.

My approach to working with trauma is grounded in using a somatic body oriented approach from my holistic psychotherapy training which included the work of Peter Levine and Bessel Van Der Kolk.

“We cannot grow when we are in shame, and we can’t use shame to change ourselves or others.”
― Brené Brown,

Shame leaves you feeling like you are damaged and beyond repair. That you are never good enough.  It makes you question your worth. It is a deeply painful and always present emotion.

Unresolved shame can lead to anxiety, low self esteem.  Though the terms “shame” and “guilt” are sometimes used interchangeably, most research on these emotions has found that they are distinct experiences.  Guilt is ‘I made a mistake’ whereas shame is often internalised as ‘I am a mistake’.  Working with both shame and guilt are paramount to create true self acceptance and self compassion.

Relationship Work – Life Changes – Finding Your Purpose

Over the course of life, we are continually faced with change. Some transitions are navigated with ease and others leave us feeling overwhelmed, lost and struggling how to move forward.  Sometimes, we don’t even know why we feel so lost but just know that things are not right.

Change and our ability to adapt is unique to each person.  If you are struggling to manage or adjust to a new stage of life, parenting, menopause or dealing with difficult relationship’s or ongoing conflict in your life, life transition therapy can help.

When you lose someone you love, the ground is taken from underneath you.  You are faced with living this ‘new normal’   Your loss may be sudden or expected. Either way, grief leaves you with a heart full of sadness and pain that can feel overwhelming.  Grief and the grieving process is unique for each person. For some, your loved one may have passed in another country making the process of grieving away from family, friends and support incredibly challenging.

I understand the pain of loss when you lose your loved one.  How hard it is to find the space to grieve, honour their memory and manage daily life.  The challenge of just getting through each day when your heart is filled with sadness and pain, can feel so overwhelming.

I work with you and meet you where you are at in your grieving process.