Counselling

Psychological Counselling Treatment:

I work with adults of all backgrounds with a wide range of presentations including:

Anxiety Disorders
Mood Disorders including Depression
Trauma and adjustment to major life events/disruptions
Family and Relationship issues
Perinatal issues
Grief and Loss
Stress Management
Parenting challenges and support

My Practice focuses on helping people going through significant life challenges, major life transitions or when your usual coping strategies fall short.

Therapeutic Approaches:

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT):

CBT is a widely utilised evidence-based psychotherapy. CBT seeks to explore, identify and challenge an individual’s unhelpful thought patterns (cognitions) and behaviours.

Common elements of CBT include:

Identifying and challenging unhelpful thinking patterns
Examining underlying negative core beliefs
Disrupting unhelpful behavioural patterns
Improving lifestyle behaviours

I am drawn to CBT for its pragmatic and straightforward application. I aim to help my clients enhance their self-awareness and understanding, using these insights to develop personalised coping skills and strategies. CBT is often useful for my clients to address and disrupt unhelpful thoughts and behaviours that have been identified as targets for change.

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT):

ACT is a widely utilised evidence-based psychotherapy. As the name implies, ACT has two core aims, incorporating Acceptance of that which we can’t control and Commitment to that which we value. The ultimate goal of ACT is to assist you to live a rich, full and meaningful life.

Common elements of ACT include:

Developing skills to accept and respond more effectively to difficult thoughts, feelings and experiences.
Clarifying values and increasing values-based actions to cultivate a more meaningful life.
Mindfulness skills to bring one’s full attention to the present moment and live more fully.

I am a strong believer in the philosophy of ACT and its resonance with the work of Viktor Frankl. I have found ACT a very useful framework for assisting my clients to come to terms with adversity and move forward with their lives.

Feedback-Informed Treatment (FIT) & Routine Outcome Measurement (ROM):

FIT and ROM are not technically therapeutic approaches, but rather refer to processes that assist in evaluating the effectiveness of therapy. Using brief psychometric questionnaires to measure client engagement and session-by-session progress, therapists obtain real-time insights, pinpointing areas for improvement or potential challenges. This data-driven approach allows for more responsive and tailored treatment planning and outcome evaluation.

I am passionate about using FIT and ROM to work collaboratively with my clients towards their goals for therapy. Carefully tracking feedback and outcomes enables the evaluation of therapy effectiveness for each client and encourages the exploration of alternative approaches when needed. Over the years, this approach has assisted me in honing my therapeutic skills and improving outcomes for my clients.