Why choose therapy?

Everyone experiences periods of stress throughout their lives, be it through a difficult break-up or stress from targets and deadlines at work or university. It is all too easy to ignore any uncomfortable feelings and carry on as normal, dismissing any signs that your environment is negatively affecting your physical or mental health. Counselling can help you to work through your difficulties and enable you to emerge the other side with more resources to cope with stress in the future.

Often, we experience warnings that we should address our mental health such as feelings of anxiety or perhaps low mood/depression or angry outbursts but we just carry on regardless. But this ‘stiff upper lip’ approach to life allows tension to build up until we have ignored our feelings for too long and they force us pay attention by subjecting us to an anxiety attack at work before an important meeting, for example. Or perhaps a loved one died a few years ago and you thought that you had 'dealt' with it at the time but when your trusty Labrador Buster died recently, feelings came flooding back about the earlier loss.

Studies have shown that putting feelings into words and sharing them with someone helps to manage negative emotional experience [1]. It has been shown to help regulate activity in the amygdala, an area of the brain involved in emotion regulation. However, speaking to a family member or a close friend can complicate the matter because they are also emotionally involved in the issue. This is where I come in! I offer confidential, impartial support to help you work through any emotional issues you are experiencing. We can explore whatever is troubling you in a safe, non-judgemental environment and help you to manage the situation.

It is estimated that 1 In 4 people will experience a mental health difficulty each year [2] but only 12.5% of these people will seek professional help [3]. After having a fair amount of my own therapy (a requirement of all BACP and UKCP accredited training) I firmly believe that counselling is a worthwhile investment in your personal wellbeing but I see how the financial costs are too much for many people. This is why I am committed to to offering affordable psychological support. I am able to offer reduced rates because utilizing the internet means that I don't have to spend approx £10 of the hourly fee on room hire. I also offer a limited number of mega low-cost appointments for low-income clients that are negotiated on a case by case basis. If you would like to enquire about this or have any questions please call me for a confidential chat on 074545 33341.

[1] Liebermann, M., Eisenberger, N., Crockett, M., Tom S., Pfiefer, J., Way, B. (2007). Putting feelings into words- Affect labelling disrupts amygdala activity in response to affective stimuli. Psychological Science, Vol 18, Number 5

[2] McManus, S., Meltzer, H., Brugha, T. S., Bebbington, P. E., & Jenkins, R. (2009). Adult psychiatric morbidity in England, 2007: results of a household survey. The NHS Information Centre for health and social care.

[3] McManus S, Bebbington P, Jenkins R, Brugha T. (eds.) (2016). Mental health and wellbeing in England: Adult psychiatric morbidity survey 2014. Leeds: NHS digital.