Integrative Therapy
Mind | Body | Relationship
Integrative psychotherapy: My expertise encompasses working in an integrative way with emotional focus towards different aspects of self, enabling clients to explore and integrate various parts of their identity, which promotes self-acceptance and improves their internal dialogue • Relational psychotherapy • emotion-focused work • developmental / relational trauma • grief & loss • identity & life transitions • impact of persistent health difficulties •
Embodied practice: Embodied interventions focus on the physical sensations that accompany emotional experiences, fostering a greater awareness of how the body responds to emotional states, thereby facilitating deeper healing • Breath awareness • mindful movement / activity • sensory awareness • attention to bodily experience • nature based work •
Buried trauma doesn’t go away, it remains and continues to grow, until it surfaces in unexpected and disproportionate ways.” Judith Zackson
Integrative trauma treatment
My approach to trauma integration is relational and holistic, we work slowly and safely, while honoring the whole person and treatment preferences.
You may have heard of 'top down' or 'bottom up' approaches, meaning some people want to talk and think about their difficulties and can heal this way i,e, person centred or CBT. But some people require body based entry points to work with unconcious trauma, therapies like EFT and parts work deliver on both levels. We are talking about and feeling our emotions, parts work to helps us separate out and work with difficulties. It pairs nicely with body based approaches, embodied practise and trauma reprocessing - adding another layer of 'noticing' bodily experience, whilst working with protective mechanisms such as: the breath, posture and tension; or more severe states like dissociation.
I use resourcing and embodied practice with most clients unless this feels unsafe to do so. For trauma reprocessing we create safety & stabalisation before processing the bodies memory and response. By working in the present, addressing both the physical and emotional manifestations of trauma in 'real time', we are able to create an internal sense of safety to integrate and heal trauma.. Developing ways of working with nature also supports experiental learning about ourselves.
Symptoms of persistent trauma include:
- Trouble sleeping
- Nightmares or night-terrors
- Panic attacks
- Emotional melt-downs
- Negative self-image
- Self-doubt
- Feeling detached from loved ones
- Loss of interest in things or people you once enjoyed
- Risky behaviors
- Hypervigilance
- Irritability
- Emotional numbness
- Flashbacks
- *Emotional Flashbacks
- Physical symptoms like headaches, nausea, and chest pain
"Time does not heal wounds without acknowledgement of what has happened. You need to clarify your feelings and express them in a way that defines in detail what you have lost and how much you care about what you have lost." Pete Walker
Emotion-Focused
Emotion-focused therapy (EFT) emphasises emotional awareness and expression of our experiences. We explore our feelings and 'felt sense', building emotional literacy whilst being curious about how, what and where we experiencing.
We may be working through unfinshed business, addressing underlying wounds, unconsious processes, acknowledging and validating then doing something with them - can bring a sense of emotional release and improved emotional regulation.
Emotion-focused work helps us integrate difficulties by helping us be more comfortable with vulnerability and connection within the therapeutic relationship and with ourselves, through increased self awareness, presence and self agency.
Parts work
Based on the idea that we have different aspects of self, they can be supprotive or protective. When experiences are unresolved, certain parts will carry pain while others shield you from it to survive; they might be people pleasers, rescuers, persecutors, helplesness.
Parts work helps you relate to different parts of yourself with curiosity and non-judgment all of them serving a purpose. It can help you deal with conflicting parts and help them work together more harmoniously. It can be especially powerful if you've have developed a strong inner critic or sense of shame, by becoming more compassionate to the wounded and protective parts of self and helping parts which want to develop. Parts work may be interesting if you like working creatively, we may use objects and imagination.
Embodied practice
Embodied practices focus on the body i.e. awareness of body sensation, grounding, orienting, boundaries, breath awareness and movement, This gives us a different entry point to methods of healing including using nature to support us. Also experiential exercises to create a safe working distance with internal splits and problematic reactions and may involve empty chair work, re-enactments or visualisation work.
Safety & Stabalisatiton
Safety and stabilisation are fundamental components of trauma reprocessing treatment.
Stabilisation techniques, such as grounding, anchoring, self soothing and containment, help individuals manage emotional distress and remain present during and outside of therapy sessions.
I use trauma reprocessing techniques which incorporate elements such as dual awareness, bilateral stimulation, therapeutic touch and sensorimotor techniques.