Psychotherapy

Psychotherapy – often referred to as ‘talking therapy’ – involves talking to a trained therapist who can help with a wide range of issues, such as anxiety, depression, eating disorders or PTSD.

It can be compared to rewriting a computer program. In other words, sometimes the person you want to be is incompatible with the beliefs you hold about the world and yourself.

These old beliefs you carry – maybe even since you were a child – don’t allow you to be free and take advantage of all the opportunities available to you. You can also think of it as an old phone application that won’t allow you to access the latest features unless you upgrade the system.

It’s not fully understood what causes anxiety disorders, but there are several reasons why you might be affected:

• A traumatic event early in your life, which has never been healed
• Panic disorder runs in your family
• Your personality type means you’re more prone to be anxious
• A medication side effect
• Build-up of stress
• Drugs or alcohol (misuse or withdrawal)

There are many approaches to psychotherapy. Some of the most well-known include:

• Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) – a type of talking therapy that aims to help you change the way you think and how you behave. It focuses on your current problems – rather than past issues – to help you deal with situations better and behave in a more positive way.
• Schema Therapy (ST) – which can help you break unhelpful patterns of thinking, feeling and behaving that have caused you distress. These patterns are replaced with healthier, more positive alternatives.
• Psychodynamic psychotherapy – also known as psychodynamic counselling – which focuses on immediate problems to try to provide a quicker solution. It can help you gain insight into your life and understand your deep-rooted feelings, so issues can be resolved.
• Humanistic therapy – which centres on you as a whole and your self-development. It encourages you to be responsible for your thoughts and actions, and it gives you the ability to achieve your goals.
• Art therapy – which uses the creative process of making art to help you express your emotions, issues and feelings.
• Family therapy – a type of counselling that can help your family improve how they communicate with one another and resolve conflicts.
• Neuro-linguistic psychotherapy (NLPt) – a specialised form of neuro-linguistic programming (NLP). It explores how to think more constructively, model effective behaviours, identify successful strategies and apply these to your own life.

Neuro-linguistic programming is based on the theory that your life experiences shape how you see the world.

Developed by Richard Bandler and John Grinder in the 1970s, NLP involves analysing and copying the strategies used by successful people to help you achieve your goals. The key elements of NLP are modelling, effective communication and action.

Neuro-linguistic programming can be used successfully in conjunction with other types of therapy, such as CBT, humanistic therapy and psychodynamic psychotherapy.

NLP is used in a variety of fields and sectors, including:

• Counselling
• Business
• Law
• Sport
• Military
• Education

Neuro-linguistic programming can improve the quality of your business relationships.

NLP strategies can help you quickly build trust and a rapport with your clients. It can improve how you communicate with your customers and enable you to gain a better understanding of their needs.

The tools of NLP can benefit your entire business and working life, from how you handle negotiations and make sales through to dealing with stress and customer issues.

As a trained neuro-linguistic psychotherapist, I’ll show you how to look through your client’s map of the world, so you can understand and communicate with them better.