As well as a longstanding general psychotherapy practice, I have a great deal of experience in working with particular issues including chronic pain and illness, depression, anxiety and complex trauma. In a seventeen year NHS career, I was psychology lead in Broomfield Hospital Mid- & South Essex NHS pain services for seven years.
My work integrates both psychoanalytic and contemporary cognitive & behavioural approaches to helping people live their lives to the full, sometimes with the uncertainties that ongoing health problems can bring. Living with a chronic health condition can be challenging; we can feel very dependent and vulnerable at times. Pain conditions such as fibromyalgia often lead to increased rumination, feelings of loss and a sense of resignation, even hopelessness. What psychotherapy can do in this context is to help us to manage our mind, not from a position of ‘fighting’ or struggling against ourself, but in a way that enables us to stay in touch with – and to feel sustained by – the things that can and do matter to us in life.
My approach to depression is that whilst it can often seem to be a retreat from life, it is better understood as a kind of ‘flag’ in life’s map; it tells us that something is there that needs our attention. This may be a troubling personal history, feelings associated with a lack of attainment, a loss of personal value or, possibly, a blocked creative urge. Depression is rarely simply a medical problem; it is always a complex and very personal experience. Psychotherapy is about helping us to tell our story whilst staying true to the direction we want our one life to take.
Natural feelings of anxiety may at times be a light that shines on something of importance to us; after all, we don’t tend to get anxious about things that are of little or no value. But too much anxiety can be a serious problem. When anxiety becomes an almost permanent emotional and physical state we risk becoming isolated with a mounting sense of difficulty. We may struggle with past or ongoing traumatic events; we may feel unsafe or unsupported in our lives currently. The role of therapy, I believe, is to enable us to reduce the burden of our ongoing difficulties so that life can be lived more freely, more purposefully and more creatively.
Psychotherapist & Trainer 