Services
Anxiety
Anxiety manifests in various ways. If you find yourself persistently worrying about others’ opinions, grappling with OCD, experiencing panic attacks, health-related anxieties, or specific phobias like heights or enclosed spaces, support is available.
Anxiety is widespread, and consulting with a seasoned psychologist can provide valuable assistance. I am extensively trained and employ personalised, evidence-based therapy to ensure optimal treatment outcomes for you. The diverse forms of anxiety are outlined below:
Generalised Anxiety
Symptoms include anxiety, indecision, sleep disturbances, muscle tension, irritability, and chronic apprehension about future events.
Health Anxiety
Excessive concerns about serious illnesses such as cancer, MS, or MND in the absence of medical confirmation are characteristic of health anxiety. Seeking reassurance from doctors or scouring the internet often exacerbates anxiety.
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
Obsessions are intrusive, repetitive thoughts causing distress, while compulsions are behaviours or thoughts undertaken to alleviate anxiety, but ultimately perpetuate it.
Panic Disorder & Agoraphobia
Panic attacks entail symptoms like rapid heartbeat, chest tightness, breathing difficulties, sweating, trembling, dizziness, and more. Agoraphobia may develop when individuals fear experiencing panic attacks in public spaces.
Social Anxiety
From mild shyness and blushing to severe discomfort during presentations or meetings, social anxiety encompasses concerns about judgment and self-assurance.
Specific Phobias
Therapy can be beneficial for addressing anxieties related to specific objects or situations like driving, heights, flying, spiders, needles, blood, or confined spaces.
Depression
It’s common for individuals to experience periods of low mood and depression at some point in their lives. If you’re noticing a lack of energy, changes in sleeping or eating habits, feelings of sadness, guilt, or hopelessness, as well as difficulties with concentration and motivation, you may be dealing with depression.
Depression can manifest suddenly or gradually, triggered by challenging life circumstances or seemingly emerging without a clear cause. Its severity and symptoms can vary greatly. Some may continue their daily activities but struggle with low energy, emotional flatness, or concentration issues. Others may find even basic self-care tasks like getting out of bed, dressing, and eating challenging.
Research suggests that psychological therapy, with or without medication, is the most effective long-term treatment for depression. Psychotherapy can aid in managing depressive thoughts, adopting mood-lifting behaviours, enhancing interpersonal relationships, improving sleep quality, making necessary life adjustments, fostering self-esteem, cultivating hope for the future, and reducing the likelihood of depression recurrence.
Common Symptoms of Depression:
- Feelings of worthlessness and excessive guilt
- Persistent sadness, feeling overwhelmed, or a sense of misery or despair
- Loss of interest or pleasure in usual activities
- Changes in appetite leading to weight loss or gain
- Sleeping excessively or experiencing insomnia
- Physical manifestations like sluggishness or restlessness
- Persistent fatigue and lack of energy
- Apathy and decreased motivation
- Social withdrawal
- Challenges with concentration, decision-making, and memory
- Recurrent thoughts of death or suicide
Relationships
Acquiring the skills to cultivate healthy relationships is essential for overall well-being. I offer assistance in comprehending relationship patterns and honing communication and interpersonal skills across various facets of life, including family dynamics, romantic partnerships, parenting, friendships, workplace interactions, breakups, and navigating singlehood.
Engaging with a psychologist in a mix of individual and joint sessions can empower us to become more adept in our relationships and make better decisions concerning them.
For individuals grappling with recent breakups, psychological therapy offers a path to healing from distress and processing relationship experiences in a manner that boosts self-esteem and fosters positive outcomes in future connections.
It’s important to note that relationship challenges extend beyond romantic contexts. I provide support for those feeling dissatisfied with singlehood, facing friendship disappointments, encountering familial conflicts, navigating parenting difficulties, or experiencing workplace tensions or bullying.
Therapy facilitates:
- Identifying and challenging unhelpful relationship beliefs
- Learning alternative perspectives on others’ behaviours
- Enhancing communication of personal needs and emotions
- Addressing and transforming problematic conflict patterns
- Establishing healthier boundaries
- Making informed choices in relationship dynamics
Stress
Stress arises as the body’s reaction to external pressures or “stressors.” Prolonged or chronic stress can lead to a myriad of issues including insomnia, relationship strains, health ailments, burnout, addictive behaviours, and dissatisfaction in career and life. Hence, acquiring stress management skills early on is crucial for mental health and that sense of well-being.
In small doses, stress can serve as a catalyst for rising to challenges and performing optimally. However, excessive or chronic stress can diminish productivity and overall performance.
Scientific research has linked long-term stress and the release of stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline to various physical health problems, such as cardiovascular issues, high blood pressure, muscular discomfort, compromised immune function, skin conditions, migraines, diabetes, and infertility.
Psychological therapy not only aims to minimize stressors in one’s life where possible but also equips you with techniques to manage unhelpful thought patterns contributing to stress, alleviate stress symptoms, learn relaxation techniques, and address behaviours perpetuating the stress cycle.
Symptoms of stress often include:
• Heightened irritability
• Frustration and impatience
• Diminished enjoyment and sense of purpose
• Challenges with decision-making
• Magnifying minor issues
• Strained relationships
• Increased worrying and difficulty concentrating
• Sleep disturbances
Common stressors may include work or relationship challenges, home renovations or relocations, job loss or unemployment, traumatic experiences, illness or disability, workplace harassment, significant life changes, excessive workloads, and unrealistic expectations and difficulty saying ‘no’.
Self Esteem
Self-esteem is shaped by our life experiences and how others treat us, leading us to form perceptions of ourselves that may not always be entirely positive. An “inner critic” often emerges, reminding us of our flaws and fostering feelings of inadequacy. I offer support to enhance your self-esteem and confidence.
Self-esteem encompasses the opinions, emotions, and thoughts we hold about ourselves, heavily influenced by our childhood experiences and evolving in response to life’s ups and downs. Low self-esteem is frequently rooted in feelings of shame, the belief that we are unworthy of love and belonging. Those with poor self-esteem commonly contend with a harsh “Internal Critic,” a critical inner voice that judges and condemns. Perfectionists, too, grapple with low self-esteem as they strive for flawlessness to gain validation.
Healthy self-esteem rests upon our capacity to perceive ourselves accurately, embracing our imperfections with unconditional acceptance and self-worth.
Psychological therapy can aid in boosting self-esteem by fostering self-compassion, acceptance, and worthiness, enhancing happiness and life satisfaction, and mitigating unhealthy responses to shame.
Trauma
Trauma can stem from a single incident like a car crash or prolonged experiences such as childhood abuse, family violence, or workplace bullying, with lasting repercussions on one’s life.
Trauma is the imprint left by overwhelming experiences, often shaping our perceptions and responses long after the event.
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) encompasses a specific set of reactions that emerge following traumatic events. These events can range from isolated incidents to prolonged or recurring occurrences like accidents, assaults, warfare, crimes, medical emergencies, or natural disasters. Feelings of intense fear, helplessness, or horror are common responses to such events.
Even seemingly common life experiences can trigger a trauma reaction when important relationships or institutions betray or disappoint us unexpectedly. For instance, a sudden breakup, discovery of infidelity, unjust dismissal, or workplace harassment can have traumatic effects.
Psychological therapy is indispensable in these scenarios to help individuals manage trauma symptoms, emotionally process their experiences, and chart a positive path forward in life. Symptoms of Trauma: Individuals with PTSD typically encounter four main types of challenges:
- Re-experiencing the traumatic event through unwanted memories, vivid imagery, and nightmares.
- Heightened vigilance or arousal, characterized by sleep disturbances, irritability, difficulty concentrating, and hypervigilance.
- Avoidance of reminders of the event, leading to avoidance of activities, places, people, thoughts, or emotions associated with the trauma.
- Emotional numbing, resulting in a loss of interest in daily activities, detachment from loved ones, and a sense of emotional flatness.
You don’t have to live with the burden of trauma, support is available.