ABOUT ME
LOCATION AND FEES
Resources
There are brilliant resources out there to support you in therapy, and it is really worth finding ones that work for you. The basic intention is to regulate your nervous system so you can prevent feelings becoming overwhelming, allowing you to work on your difficulties.
This page covers a few of my favourites.
If you find a resource triggering in any way, please immediately stop using it.
There WILL be a resource which works for you, and discussing your experiences with resources will be part of our collaboration.
Mission
Mindfulness
Mindfulness is an evidence based approach to managing stress and anxiety, as well as many other common mental health problems. I am trained in mindfulness based stress reduction which is used in the NHS.
I often use mindfulness at the end of sessions, as a way of calming the nervous system.
It can be extremely difficult to engage with mindfulness when you first start using it, and it is not unusual to get frustrated. Practising it together can build confidence in its benefits, as well as giving you tools to use between sessions.
The book 'Full Catastrophe Living' by Jon Kabat Zinn covers the basics of mindfulness meditation, and is available as an audiobook.
The Rubin Museum Mindfulness Podcast covers lots of key ideas about mindfulness, usually based on an item in the museum.
Here is their website:
https://rubinmuseum.org/page/mindfulness-meditation-podcast
Here are a few short exercises to try from You Tube to get your started:
'How mindfulness empowers us: An animation narrated by Sharon Salzberg'
'Two minute Re-Centering'
'Ten minutes self-soothing'
'Ten minute loving kindness meditation'
'Why mindfulness is a superpower: An Animation'
Vision
Grounding Techniques
When we talk about difficult things in therapy it can bring up painful feelings. It is very normal to cut off from these feelings by drifting off, or becoming foggy, detached or confused. It can be helpful to know how to reconnect when this happens.
Grounding techniques use the senses to bring us back into the here and now to remind us we are safe are secure.
'5,4,3,2,1 Technique'
'Square breathing'
'Butterfly Hug'
Internal Family Systems
IFS is a therapeutic approach which believes we are made up of parts. It is helpful for us to get to know these parts, and to work with them without judgement, in order to live a more energetic and fulfilling life.
The book 'No bad parts: Healing Trauma and Restoring Wholeness with the Internal Family Systems Model' by Richard Schwarz is a recent book building on his previous work. It contains exercises at the end of each chapter, to try to get to know, and ultimately unburden, our parts.
