Making The Difference

MAKING THE DIFFERENCE SERVICES

WHAT IS COUNSELLING?

The Basic Principles

The aim of counselling is to provide an opportunity for you to work towards living in a more satisfying and resourceful way.

In counselling the right of the client to make his or her own decisions is respected.

I will clarify with you the basis on which counselling is to be undertaken including fees and confidentiality. All subsequent changes will be negotiated.

I continually monitor my own skills, resources and practice.

I am professionally qualified as a Counsellor, Counselling Supervisor, EMDR Trauma Counsellor and Coognitive Behavioural Therapy Therapist and I am committed to maintaining my competence.

I have regular supervision and consultative support.

I will not abuse my position of trust in any way.

All that takes place between counsellor and client is treated with respect and discretion.


MY APPROACH TO COUNSELLING

While I follow the core priciples and ethics of counselling as outlined above, during the twenty two years I have worked as a Counsellor, I have developed and integrated a range of counselling models and approaches to meet the needs of each person I work with according to their needs, life experiences and reasons for seeking our help. These different strands to my work are the result of the integration of my developing experience, philosophy and training and my understanding of innovations in the world of counselling and psychotherapy.

Below are the main areas which I incorporate into my work and which I have found have proved most helpful to my clients.

EMDR - EYE MOVEMENT DESENSITIZATION AND REPROCESSING

EMDR is a highly effective method of 'normalising' trauma. Traumatic experience(s) can be imprinted in our mind and it/they can repeat themselves in our mind-body over and over again. Nightmares may be the mind's way of attempting to process this information, but the trauma memory always lasts beyond the dream.

Traumatic experiences, when locked in the mind, can exacerbate anxiety and prevent a person from moving forward and escaping from the prison of fear.

EMDR can help the traumatised to feel what is true for them. It can help a person to develop and attune to their own inner wisdom. EMDR clears away clutter so that a person can normalise their experience.

More detailed information about EMDR can be found on a separate page. I will be pleased to explain the principles and procedures of EMDR if you would like further clarification.

ANAM CARA

Carl Jung said that he wasn't aware of a single client in the second half of life whose problems weren't essentially to do with "the Numinous" - what I would call the spiritual - dimension of their lives. My belief is that whereas most problems, at any time in our lives, are psychological in nature most solutions to them lie in the spiritual dimension of the human condition.

Further reflections can be found on a separate page.


COGNITIVE BEHAVIOURAL THERAPY - CBT


THE BODY NEVER LIES

Learning to gain insight and awareness of physical conditions and reactions can direct us towards learning to listen to the spontaneous messages and signals our bodies are sending to us, thereby allowing us to work towards emotional, psychological and spiritual healing.

STRESS MANAGEMENT

Techniques and exercises to combat stress

VISUALISTION

Finding peace through visualisation