Fees

It’s been the strangest couple of  years – more so than any in living memory perhaps. It’s particularly striking at the moment how many of my clients are people who have never experienced poor mental health previously.  Those who have always regarded themselves as strong, capable people now genuinely concerned at their own inability to deal with things they would usually take in their stride.

If this sounds like you I would like to reassure you, you are not going mad.

This is a real concern that I’ve heard more than once during recent sessions. It’s a very rewarding part of my job to be able to explain what’s happening, how we can start to put it right, and to see the relief that this explanation brings.

The fact is that brains change all the time (neuroplasticity), and the experiences of the last 18 months have inevitably changed some parts of the brain, often in ways that we find unhelpful.  Approached in the right way we can take conscious control of some of these changes and effectively reshape our own brain to work in the way that we want.  At the same time we can harness the power of the subconscious to work with us rather than against us.

In every first consultation with a new client I take time to explain some of the science of why the brain behaves as it does, and the steps we can take to influence our own mental state.

Many new clients find this extremely useful even before any treatment begins, as understanding it immediately puts them more in control.  We then follow this up with gentle and focused techniques to help the brain return to normal service, and to help them return to being the strong, capable person they really are.

I am often asked ‘What is the most common reason people seek you out?’.

Without a doubt it’s some form of anxiety.  Anxiety has a sneaky way of hiding itself in a range of seemingly unrelated symptoms.

We’re probably all familiar with the immediate physical symptoms of anxiety – the racing heart, feeling short of breath, a churning stomach or feeling hot and sweaty.

However, in the longer-term anxiety can manifest in a multitude of other ways, some without an obvious connection to our state of mind.   Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) is a classic example of this, but other physical complaints such as difficulty sleeping, migraines, skin conditions, over-sensitivity to pain or noise, high blood pressure etc. can equally have their foundation in anxiety.

And the list goes on.  Traits that we sometimes regard as part of who we are can also be indications that anxiety levels are running higher than is healthy.  Lack of confidence, fear of change, inability to stand up for yourself, fear of driving, phobias, discomfort in social situations, inability to cope with the simplest of challenges, becoming withdrawn or bad-tempered are just some of the clues that tell us that all is not well.

There is sometimes a perception that “well that’s just how I am”, however by working together in sessions we can often address underlying anxiety, achieving positive changes in areas of life where perhaps a change was least expected.

It’s unlikely any of us will ever be in a situation where there are no potential causes of stress, but we can help ourselves get to a more robust mental state so that we can cope better and alleviate some of the many possible symptoms of stress and anxiety.