"What is the meaning of life? That was all - a simple question; one that tended to close in on one with years. The great revelation never came, the great revelation perhaps never did come. Instead, there were daily little miracles, matches struck unexpectedly in the dark; here was one..." Virginia Woolf
What I Offer:
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Long and short term counselling and psychotherapy for adults -both individuals and couples, either Face to Face/ Online
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A Free 30 minute face to face (or online) initial consultation session.
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A safe space to explore themes that may feel difficult/impossible to share elsewhere, without fear of judgement.
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A comfortable environment offered from a discreet location, with no signage or shared waiting room.
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Easy access by train (station 4 minute walk) and free parking directly outside.
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A comfy sofa and a therapy room stocked with resources to help you explore whatever themes you wish to bring.
People attend for a range of reasons and although this list is not exhaustive, it will give you an idea of some of the issues that psychotherapy can help with;
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Abuse (emotional/ sexual/ physical/domestic)
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Addictive behaviours
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Anger
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Ageing/End of Life
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Anxiety and distress/overwhelm/ stress related disregulation
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Attachment difficulties
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Co-dependancy
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Depression/prolonged sadness/complicated grief
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Diversity-feeling 'othered' /like you don't belong
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Shame
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Living with a Life-Limiting/Chronic Health Condition
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Life Transitions
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Low Self Esteem
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Neurodiversity
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Mental health issues
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Relationship Difficulties-familial/partner/friends/colleagues
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Self Harm/Suicide
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Sex Industry Work
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Sex/Sexuality /Gender orientation/Dealing with prejudice
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Trauma/PTSD
Fees:
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Individual Adult Sessions: 50 minute session £85
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Couples Sessions: 50 minute session £110 75 minute session £150 90 minute session £175
- Integrative Psychotherapy offered drawing from;
- Humanistic/ Existential/Family Systems/Polyvagal Theory/CBT/Gestalt and Transactional Analysis models
- Art Materials/ Sand Tray available
- Commitment to regular supervision and ongoing training for CPD
- Member of the BACP
- Fully Insured
Discrete location in Hassocks, Mid Sussex.
No shared waiting room nor external signage, so you choose what is shared and with whom. .
To book your free 30 minute initial consultation or for more information call;
07763 120561 (please leave a message and I will get back to you as soon as I am able) or email
sessions@bn6psychotherapy.com and let's see how it might feel to work together
About Therapy
When life feels problematic our best support may come from talking to family and friends...and that may be all we need. Therapy is there for those times when it might not feel possible 0r helpful to talk with those we know. Whilst talking with a stranger might seem like an odd idea at first, it can also be liberating, particularly when that person is a trained professional, whose sole aim is to listen and to support you, as you explore what you are feeling and experiencing, without judgements or agenda.
When things feel too big or too complicated to continue holding alone, therapy can offer a welcome place to feel heard and understood. Perhaps something unexpected and painful has happened, which feels overwhelmingly difficult to carry through each day and you are feeling lost within it.
If this sounds like you, do get in touch and let's see how it might be to share the load, between us.
Together we can explore what you are thinking and feeling, within a safe therapeutic holding space.
Call 07763 120561 or email sessions@bn6psychotherapy.com
Though therapy can't change the the painful things that have already happened to you, nor the facts of your current living situation, therapy can nevertheless facilitate a process that enables real and lasting change to occur, in relation to their meaning and their ongoing impact upon your life. Whilst being supportive, therapy can nevertheless feel challenging at times, but for those who engage with therapy, letting go of old patterns and ways of thinking can offer real and lasting benefits, including enhanced physical and mental well-being and a sense of life feeling more possible, enjoyable and hopeful.
As I treat everyone I work with as the unique and equally valuable person that they are, with their own individual way of living life
my approach to working with each person, will be tailored to whatever offers the best therapeutic fit/ benefit, within the frame of Integrative Psychotherapy.. The following list offers an idea of some of the therapeutic models/ modalities that we might draw upon, should we work together;
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Humanistic Therapy
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Person Centred Therapy
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Gestalt Therapy
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Relational Transactional Analysis
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Experiential-Focusing Oriented Therapy
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Existential Therapy
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Cognitive Behavioural Approaches
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Psychodynamic Therapy
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Systemic Therapy
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Metapor/Symbol and Sand Tray work
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Polyvagal Theory
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Integrative Psychotherapy
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Couple Therapy
Humanistic Therapy:
Humanistic therapy focusses on the recognition of your own creative capabilities in personal growth and choice. The main aim is to offer a ‘real’ relationship that provides a non-judgemental and understanding experience. This relational approach provides a platform for you to explore perceptions of yourself in the ‘here and now’, assisting you to recognise your own strengths, weaknesses and personal processes.
Person-Centred Therapy:
Person-Centred Therapy sees human beings as having an innate tendency to develop towards their full potential, given the right relational conditions. Our therapists provide an environment in which you will not feel in any way feel judged, thereby enabling you to experience and accept more of who you are as a person, thus reconnecting with your own values and sense of self-worth. Significantly we work to understand your experiences from your own point of view, from an open and genuine standpoint, positively valuing you as a person in all aspects of your own humanity. The nature of the therapeutic relationship (drop down relational approach) is crucial for the success and effectiveness of the therapy.
Gestalt Therapy:
Gestalt Therapy has a strong focus on the ‘here and now’ concentrating on an enhanced self awareness of your ‘whole’ experience of life including thoughts, feelings and actions. We will concentrate on experiences in the present, to remove obstacles and blocks created by past experiences.
Relational Transactional Analysis:
RTA is a theory that is related to communication and child development, explaining connections to the past and how these influence the subsequent decisions that people make. Three ‘ego’ states are used to describe how we respond to others in all our communications; Parent, Adult and Child. RTA seeks to identify what goes wrong in communication and provide opportunities to change repetitive patterns that may limit potential. A relational TA approach looks at how these repetitive patterns may be played out in the relationship between client and therapist.
Focusing oriented therapists create an environment that allows and supports the experiential, in such a way as to further your direct, bodily experience in the moment. Therapists will create an environment to where you are able to directly sense issues as they are experienced in the moment. You will be encouraged to check that the words and suggestions given by the therapist match with your own feelings and what rings true for you.
Experiential-Focusing Oriented Therapy:
Existential Therapy:
The Existential approach focuses on exploring the meanings behind issues through an emphasis on a philosophical perspective rather than a technique-based approach. It can be effective if you wish to increase self-awareness and broaden your views of the world and your place in it. An existential approach will generally more emphasis on the choices made in the present and future than the past.
Cognitive Behavioural Approaches:
Cognitive behavioral approaches are based on a combination of basic behavioral and cognitive principles, focusing on how we attend, interpret, reason reflect and make sense of internal and external events. The theory acknowledges that some of our behaviors cannot be controlled through rational thought. Common features of CBT procedures are the focus on the ‘here and now’, a more directive therapist role, and a more structured approach to sessions. Traditional CBT is “problem focused” and “action oriented”addressing emotions, behaviors and cognitive processes via systematic, goal-oriented procedures. Contemporary or third wave CBT is now very diverse and incorporates a range of approaches including Dialectical Behavioural Therapy (DBT), Schema focused CBT, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT). CBT approaches can be effective for a variety of conditions, including mood, anxiety, personality, eating, substance abuse and psychotic disorders. A cognitive behavioural approach (CBA) can also be integrated into the work of therapists from other modalities.
Psychodynamic Therapy:
This approach stresses the importance of the unconscious and past experience in shaping current behaviours. Clients will be encouraged to talk about childhood relationships with parents and other significant people. Psychodynamic therapy aims to help you become aware of and to experience vulnerable feelings which may been pushed out of conscious awareness. The psychodynamic approach takes the view that everyone has an unconscious, which holds painful and vulnerable feelings that are too difficult to be consciously aware of. In order to keep painful feelings, memories, and experiences in the unconscious, people develop defense mechanisms, which according to psychodynamic theory, can cause more harm than good and it is once the vulnerable or painful feelings are processed that these defense mechanisms reduce or resolve. There is an assumption of unhelpful behaviour having been constructed and formed at a very early stage of life which then goes on to cause distress in the experiences encountered on a daily basis.
Systemic Therapy:
Traditional psychological therapies tend to work with distress in individualistic terms. A ‘Systemic’ therapeutic approach focuses on exploring client(s) contextual worlds, through the detailed examination of current familial relationships and patterns. Systemic Therapeutic Approaches thus locate current difficulties being experienced by clients in relation to family patterns and processes, rather than seeing them as a “product of the individual”. Systemic therapeutic approaches recognise that the individual is part of a wider complex interactional ‘system’ and therefore seek to offer clients opportunities to find new and more expansive ways of relating, within their existing family relationships. Consequently clients may at times experience Systemic interventions as more ‘directive’. Whilst trained ‘Family Therapists’ often work with couples or whole families, individual therapists may also integrate systemic thinking into their practice with individual clients. For a general description of Systemic therapy, contact the Association of Family Therapy and Systemic Practice at www.aft.org.uk
Metaphor/Symbol and Sand Tray Work
Using art materials and visual signifiers (such as sand tray miniatures) in therapy, can offer a powerful bridge to the self inner-world, by accessing what is held in the right brain hemisphere, where images, sensory information and raw emotion is both stored and processed. This approach encourages connection in the moment to what is being felt with less of a primary reliance on using words to explain complex emotions. Externalising material from our inner world in this way can offer distance and thus facilitate self-regulation, allowing space for curiosity and reflection, whilst we engage with deeply held feelings. In sessions clients may be invited to use metaphor and creative materials such as pen and paper and Sand Tray, to facilitate their connection to, and expression of thoughts, feelings and beliefs about themselves and their life experiences. Whilst this way of working differs from traditional talking therapy in its approach to delivery, it is nevertheless rooted in the same rigorous theoretical underpinnings. When clients interact with an artistic metaphor, they may be more able to move from 'unstoried emotions' to a coherent narrative. Neuroscience recognises that emotional trauma, distress and 'blockages' are often stored in the right brain hemisphere, which processes images, sensory information and raw emotion. Using visual signifiers can facilitate neurological cross-hemisphere collaboration and thus increase neural integration, when the right brain connects to the feeling via the image... and the left brain finds words to describe what is being felt
Polyvagal Theory
Polyvagal Theory draws from neuroscience to explain how the mind and body respond to safety, danger and threat according to a three part hierarchical response system, managed by the vagus nerve. The theory explains how bodily (autonomic) systems shape the body's moment by moment capacity to regulate and to support health and respond to changing situations. In psychotherapy, tracking and mapping bodily sensations and increasing physiological self-awareness alongside use of self-regulating tools, within a safe therapeutic frame can lead to a greater capacity to self-soothe.
Integrative Psychotherapy:
Integrative Psychotherapy at BN6 Psychotherapy takes into account many views of human functioning. Here, the humanistic, existential, family systems, polyvagal, psychodynamic, client-centered, cognitive, Gestalt therapy, body-psychotherapies, psychoanalytic and relational transactional analysis approaches are all considered within a dynamic perspective. Each provides a partial explanation of behaviour and each is enhanced when selectively integrated with other aspects of the therapist’s approach. The psychotherapy interventions used in Integrative Psychotherapy are based on developmental research and theories describing the self-protective (and initially helpful) behaviours that people adopt and develop when they are faced with very early childhood problems and dilemmas as a way to survive. The aim of an integrative psychotherapy is to facilitate wholeness such that the quality of the person’s being and functioning is optimised with regard and respect for each individual’s own personal limits and external constraints.
Couple Work:
Couple Work at BN6 Psychotherapy utilises the full and varied range of models from the Integrative frame outlined above, to underpin all relational couple work, whilst keeping the uniqueness of each individual relational dynamic at the forefront of what we do. Along with ideas from Attachment theory, Systemic Family Therapy and Relational Transactional Analysis, which may offer a suitable range of lenses through which to understand what might be happening for each partner, appropriate relational models from psychotherapeutic experts such as Esther Perel and John Gottman, (who recognise that effective couple work must move beyond merely helping couples to communicate (and argue) more effectively, to be of any real and lasting benefit), are also incorporated, along with creative therapeutic tools such as Sand tray and art materials. In sessions we will talk about how things are for each of you and how you would like them to be. As your therapist, I will be here to facilitate discussions between you' offering you both a safe space to reflect together on your current relationship, whilst working to ensure you both feel heard and understood. Our work together will be collaborative, supportive and challenging; allowing you both shared opportunities to consider your current relationship in relation to those that preceded it.