I am a Chartered Clinical Psychologist with over 20 years experience working in the NHS and private settings.
I am trained in a range of psychological therapy approaches with my mainstay being Cognitive Analytic Therapy (CAT) for which I have a completed a comprehensive two year training to Practitioner Level.
EMDR which I am trained to advanced level through a training course approved by EMDR International Association and by EMDR Europe Association.
Below I have described a little more about what CAT and EMDR is and the type of problems these approaches may be helpful with.
If you think either of these psychological therapies may be useful to you why not contact me for a chat.
Cognitive Analytic Therapy (CAT)
CAT is suitable for treating low mood (depression), anxiety, stress, low self-confidence and low self-esteem. CAT can work with difficulties born of childhood trauma. It focusses on the underlying relational patterns learnt early in life that can make it difficult to share vulnerability and ask for what we need in a healthy way.
CAT is a very active therapy, inviting you to be the observer of your own life and to take part in what needs change. The changes needed may be small, such as stopping being caught in a trap of avoiding things, or they may be larger, such as finding new ways of relating to other people. The first thing that happens with any human encounter is our reaction to the other person. If we feel warm and happy, we are likely to feel accepted. Conversely, if we feel got at, criticised or humiliated we tend to feel hurt and misunderstood, we might respond by being angry and defensive or give up trying and get depressed and isolated. Many of our automatic responses to other people stem from patterns of relating in early life.
For example, if you had learned in your childhood that you only received love and care by pleasing others you might have the belief: ‘Only if I always do what others want will I be liked’ which puts you in a trap of pleasing others, and can lead to you feeling used and abused. When you realise you have got used to being in this trap you can start to notice how often it catches you and can begin to change what you do and learn to find other more useful ways of standing up for yourself and relating to others. CAT shows you the way to change your learned attitudes and beliefs about yourself and others, and helps you focus on ways to make better choices.
The process of a CAT therapy is to help us look at patterns of relating, and the effect these patterns are having on our relationships, our work and the way we are with ourselves. Together, in the safety of the therapeutic relationship you will gradually develop an understanding of the ways in which you have learned to cope with what has happened in your life. Often people who have been through abuse, neglect or trauma feel bad about themselves and this can affect self-confidence. The active part of CAT helps you to take part in the process of change in your own way.
Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR)
EMDR therapy is a phased, focused approach to treating trauma and other symptoms by reconnecting the traumatised person in a safe and measured way to the images, self-thoughts, emotions, and body sensations associated with the trauma, and allowing the natural healing powers of the brain to move toward adaptive resolution.
It is based on the idea that symptoms occur when trauma and other negative or challenging experiences overwhelm the brain’s natural ability to heal, and that the healing process can be facilitated and completed through bilateral stimulation while the client is re-experiencing the trauma in the context of the safe environment of the therapist’s office (dual awareness).
According to the EMDR Research Foundation, over 30 studies have documented the effectiveness of EMDR therapy over the past 30 years for problems such as rape and sexual abuse, combat trauma, childhood trauma and neglect, life-threatening accidents, and symptoms such as anxiety, depression, and substance abuse.
By processing stuck trauma, you can move those experiences to regular autobiographical memory and, in doing so, you are far better placed to get past your past and move forward with your life.
