I run network groups with a mix of trainees, newly qualified, and experienced counsellors. This is a great way to gain experience and an affordable one too! Ask if any are available that would suit your times.
Group Therapy
I facilitate group therapies in Essendon, Hatfield. The group will consist of between 5 and 9 people and meet on a weekly basis t the same time every week.
Group therapy is a powerful way to gain insight into not only how others affect you but also how you affect others! Each member brings different strengths to the group and the support comes not just from the therapist but from the other group members. Being a member of the group takes commitment and a pledge to attend regularly.
What to expect:
Typically the group would be seated in a circle, in the same location every week with a group leader, usually a Psychotherapist or Counsellor. He/she will facilitate an environment that’s safe and confidential where group members can test out new ways of reacting to people.
Group therapy members may need to have several assessment sessions before joining the group.
Sessions will be weekly, lasting an hour and a half and cost will be £25. Please email or telephone for more details.
Anxiety and Depression
Counselling for depression, stress and anxiety can be extremely effective.
I believe depression can mask feelings we’re having difficulty expressing. For example, suppressed anger can lead us to feel resentful. Resentment is like drinking poison and expecting someone else to die. Ultimately it only harms us. Depression can be about suppressed sadness too.
If you feel many of these things the chances are you could be suffering from depression:-
Do you feel upset, numb, guilty or sad for much of the time?
Have you lost interest in things you previously enjoyed ?
Are you weepy for what seems like no apparent reason?
Do you feel there’s little point to carrying on?
Do you feel alone even when you’re with others?
Do you feel on edge and irritated easily?
Do you feel easily tired?
Are you having difficulty sleeping?
Do you wake in the morning and your only desire is to go back to sleep and stay there?
Have you lost your appetite or find yourself eating more?
Are you losing your self-esteem?
Worrying what people think of you?
Are you having negative thoughts and fearing the worst all the time?
Does the future seem bleak?
Does everything seem like a tremendous effort?
Do you put off simple tasks?
It may be an idea to seek help from your GP and a counsellor if you feel you can identify with the above check list.
Anxiety can be a crippling thing to experience.
Do you feel stressed, unable to relax, have difficulty sleeping yet feel very tired? This can be the result of prolonged stress. Counselling can help you to see if it is actually anxiety you’re suffering from and give you better ways to cope with it. It will also show you how you are perhaps unknowingly perpetuating it.
It’s natural to find some degree of anxiety; for example before sitting an exam or going for a job interview, it’s when the levels get out of control that it can be very uncomfortable. People suffering from anxiety can have what’s known as “panic attacks.” These can be terrifying for some and even lead to the sufferer thinking they may be having a heart attack or that they going to pass out.
Anxiety sufferers often have health anxiety, believing they have illnesses and disorders that they really don’t have. This is often unhelpfully labelled as hypochondria when in fact it’s something that can be very frightening and feels extremely real to the person experiencing it.
Counselling can help you get things into perspective once again and work through the underlying fears.
STRESS CHECK
Do you feel worried, stressed, tense, anxious, restless, frightened, have a general feeling of dread?
Does your heart pound/miss a beat?
Does your chest feel tight?
Do you get “butterflies” in your stomach?
Do you feel giddy and like you’re going to pass out?
Do your fingers or toes feel numb or have pins and needles?
Have difficulty concentrating?
Do you start projects and not complete them?
Do you feel like your losing control?
Do your legs feel like jelly sometimes?
Do you avoid certain places/social situations?
Is this causing you to have time off work?
Do you smoke/drink more because of these feelings?
Are you eating less/more because of this?
Do you have problems getting off to sleep/staying asleep, or wake early and have trouble getting back to sleep?
If you experience some or all of these problems, the chances are you are suffering from anxiety and could benefit from counselling.
Health Anxiety
Some patients that come to see me are suffering from health anxiety. Often unhelpfully referred to as “Hypochondria” this can be a very debilitating, scary feeling. It often links back to a childhood experience. Counselling can help explore the causes and change this awful way of thinking.
As with all physical ailments please do consult your GP in the first instance
Low Self Esteem
Having low self esteem affects every area of our lives, both personally and professionally. Counselling can help give you the tools to understand yourself and help you value who you are more. It also helps you become more assertive; something that goes hand on hand with self-esteem.
Group therapy is often a useful tool to help overcome this crippling issue
Relationship Counselling
Relationships can suffer for many reasons but the common denominator is a break down in communication. This can be caused by many things. Often by the time a couple gets to counselling the communication has become very dysfunctional. I can help you learn to speak to each other again and how to listen. Therapy will help you to see where things went wrong and find a solution.
An outsider can often spot things that people in the relationship can’t. You may find it helps to talk to someone completely uninvolved who is trained to help.
You invested a lot into this relationship, why not give it another try and come and have an introductory session. You have nothing to lose.
Clients found therapy a huge benefit to their relationship. Please read my reviews from other clients here.
https://www.freeindex.co.uk/profile(heart-2-herts-counselling)_437002.htm
Supervision
Supervision is a crucial part of our client work. I specialise in supervising trainees and newly qualified people or those setting up in Private Practice. I am a firm believer that the less experienced you are, the more experienced you need your supervisor to be. I offer a FREE 30 minute, introductory supervision session to counsellors, supervisors and those in emotionally demanding jobs.
Although supervision is a requirement of a counsellor’s ongoing professional development and required as part of a counsellor’s membership to the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy and other organisations, Barristers, Social Workers, Solicitors and Doctors have also found it very useful.
Finding the right supervisor is crucial and trainees can feel vulnerable starting to see clients for the first time. I provide an opportunity for you to meet me and perhaps present a case. This enables you to see how you feel I work before you decide if you would like to work with me on a permanent basis. You can sometimes extend the 30 minutes once you are here if we both have the time but that would be chargeable.
I also run group supervision sessions at an affordable price. This makes them ideal for trainees.
Reductions are available during the day for trainee therapists needing counselling in line with course requirements and on low income. Finding the right supervisor is crucial and trainees can feel vulnerable starting to see clients for the first time.
Fees for supervision are £55 per 45 minute session.