AREAS OF SPECIALTY

Depression, fear, and anxiety are some of the most common and uncomfortable emotions that we can experience. Depression is demotivating, isolating, dark and can create feelings of hopelessness.  Anxiety is very difficult to tolerate in the body and convinces us that our fears are true. 

  Insomnia is a common sleep disorder that can make it hard to fall asleep, hard to stay asleep, or cause you to wake up too early and not be able to get back to sleep. You may still feel tired when you wake up. Sleeplessness and tiredness make every other aspect of functioning difficult. 

Emotional dysregulation is an inability to understand and adjust to your emotional experiences in a healthy, connected and controlled way. Often people will feel that their emotional expression therefore, is either excessive or 'flat'/disconnected. Emotional dysregultion is trans-diagnostic. 

A panic attack is a sudden episode of intense fear that triggers physical reactions when there is no real danger or apparent cause. Panic attacks can be very frightening. When panic attacks occur, people often feel they are losing control or that something physically is very wrong. 

Feelings of loss and grief can be experienced after we lose someone or something we care about like; the death of a loved one; loss of a relationship; loss of a pet; loss of a job; a change to your way of life; or loss of important possessions. It can be isolating and difficult to understand. 

  Obsessive-compulsive disorder also known as OCD, is a mental health condition characterised by obsessions (thoughts) which lead to compulsive behaviours. There are many forms of obsessions and compulsions - but generally they cause great distress and occupy much of a persons' time. 

Sadly, many people are exposed to traumatic events both currently and/or in their past. Trauma is experienced when we have feared for our safety or that of a loved one. Sometimes, people recovery spontaneously (for many reasons), other times we can be left with overwhelming  symptoms such as  anxiety, flashbacks, hyper-vigliance and hopelessness. 

Rumination occurs in the context of sadness, disappointment, loss and depression. If persistent and chronic both worry and rumination can prolong and intensify emotional suffering. Worrying is often associated with anxious symptoms such as tension and feeling on-edge, feelings of dread and an inability to relax. Worry and rumination are very time consuming. 

Psychologists often make a distinction between fears and phobias. A fear is an emotional response to a real or perceived threat. A phobia is similar to a fear except the anxiety they experience is so strong that it interferes with their quality of life and/or their ability to function. Phobias present in many forms and can be debilitating. 

People with low self-esteem often feel shame and self-doubt. Individuals can spend lots of time criticising themselves and believing that they are not 'good enough'. The person can make unfavourable comparisons with everyone around them and 'performance manage' every aspect of their own functioning. The often feel like an 'imposter'. 

Stress is when we are overwhelmed with the demands of our lives and burnout is when it has reached the stage where we simply 'can not' tolerate any extra burden. Stress can often be the result of too many situational demands but also, a result of our own expectations and psychology. Burnout needs to be addressed to continue healthily. 

Abuse can come in many forms, such as: physical, verbal, emotional, sexual and/or through neglect. People often attend therapy to make sense of their abuse experiences, to understand the impact of the abuse on their lives and to release harmful ways that they may be living. To live well and find meaningful connection.