TRAUMA THERAPY

Trauma Therapies are different than regular counselling/psychotherapy. 'Trauma Specific Therapies' are particularly designed around what we now know and how to work with trauma/s to heal it.

A Trauma Therapist will know it is not always requirement that you tell the story in detail of what happened, and sometimes you may be discouraged or even stopped from doing this if the therapist believes it could do you more harm than good.

Trauma therapy works with you to help you recover. For example, if you go the the hospital they don't require you to talk in detail about the incident that brought you there, to help fix you. The hospital nurses, doctors and surgeons, work with the wound or the body to help you.

The therapies below (not Person Centred) are some of the latest psychotherapy models that specifically help to heal from trauma.  I have completed significant (not just a PESI short course) training in them all.

There are over 500 psychological therapies out there and most people you will find are only trained in one or two approaches - mostly Person Centred Counselling or CBT.

AEDP (Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy)

Diana Foshers' model of psychotherapy designed to work and heal attachment wounds'. AEDP is a talking therapy that draws from attachment theory, mindfulness, and neuroscience and inner child work. It is relationship based with the therapist and helps to heal defence mechanisms and heal past traumas. AEDP is a blend of therapies, which get to the places you need to go to to heal. I have trained with founder Dr. Diana Fosher.

BRAINSPOTTING

"Where you look affects how you feel" Dr. David Grand, a very well seasoned New York psychotherapist, historically working in sports performance and trauma. Developed Brainspotting off the back of EMDR which he was using to help sports people and survivors or 911.

Brainspotting uses a neuroscience and strong person centred approach to healing from trauma. I tend to combine Brainspotting into 'Parts/IFS Therapy' and other approaches, but I can use it as a standalone intervention at times.

Brainspotting typically uses fixed eye positions, and attunement to help target and heal trauma held in the brain and body.

EMDR THERAPY

Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing/EMDR. This is quite a modern therapy stilll, especially in the UK. Eye Movements, tapping or sounds are often used to help stuck memories, emotions, symptoms or trauma. It makes things go away, imagine you were feeling really edgy for some reason or another.

EMDR helps the memory go to the back of your mind, and can help with the edgy feeling too.  There are many approaches to EMDR, the way I usually use it is an integrative tool into other therapies.

A lot of EMDR therapists combine it with CBT. I don't tend to, I use a heavily somatic approach to EMDR which tends to be very fluid, and goes deeper. There a variation/hybird of this called EMI Therapy which can be better suited to some circumstances, I'm trained in EMI  Therapy too.

IFS THERAPY (also known as an EGO STATE THERAPY or PARTS WORK)

IFS Therapy developed by Dr Richard Scwartz in the 1980' together with his clients and colleagues. Today it is the fastest growing and popular psychotherapy to come out of the USA.

IFS is the theory that informs all of my work, it is the theory I work to and how I do therapy.

The premise is that we can all be divided, there are different 'Parts' or aspects to our personality, all of which have a positive intent, other parts are hurt. Parts protect hurt parts within, sometimes parts conflict and cause us difficulties. The good news is that we can work with these parts to help them change by us doing the healing.

For example, a part might create a phobia in us as a way of protecting us. In IFS, we work with the protective part not against it, this way is more respectful, gentle, and tends to be very powerful, creating lasting change. Of course, it's not always that simple!

LIFESPAN INTEGRATION THERAPY

Lifespan Integration tends to be quite gentle, but can be powerful too. Lifespan Integration is informed by neuroscience, and helps to clear trauma and it's effects.  Lifespan Integration doesn't take too much work from the client and isn't a really talking therapy. Lifespan Integration is a form of ego state therapy incorporating somatic work. Lifespan Integration is used within the NHS's only specialist unit The Maudlsley Hospital, the NHS's only treatment hospital for complex post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and severe dissociative disorders.

SENSORIMOTOR PSYCHOTHERAPY

This is known as a 'Somatic' Psychotherapy, developed by Pat Ogden Sensorimotor Psychotherapy utilizes the mind and body, as a way of informing therapy. SP as it is known amongst therapists, gets to the roots of the feelings, essentially it helps regulate and heal traumatic feelings, and experience.

PERSON CENTRED THERAPY

This was my core training in 2005, and is still very much the foundations of my approach not necessarily 'how' I work, it is the tapestry that interweaves my therapeutic approaches. It is not so much about techniques but rather creating the right container, and the environment for you to grow and heal through a healthy relationship. The Person Centred Approach is different from Person Centred Therapy, but they are also the one and the same... Developed by Dr. Carl Rogers in the 1940's he was a pioneer in therapy, and this is still probably the most popular training in the UK. It is more than a therapy, it is also a philosophy to life, people and relationships. This approach helped mould me in my early days on becoming a psychotherapist.

Below are some videos about the therapy approaches, that I combine to offer a thorough healing psychotherapy.