Counselling and Psychotherapy
A good definition of Psychotherapy (I use the term 'psychotherapy' and I include counselling AND psychotherapy) is that it makes the unconscious, conscious. The premise is that the things/issues that are negatively affecting you in your life, are likely to be unconcscious. If you were conscious of everything that could make you live a good life and make you feel good, you wouldn't need to be in therapy! So our job together is to understandn how unconscious 'stuff', usually from childhood, can be brought to your conscious awareness so that you have more choice in what you hold onto and what you let go.
Our job together is to hep you life well - alghough you can't change the facts of your life, we can change how these things are stored in your brain and how they then impact you now. In time you will come to understand, and become aware of, the things that make you unhappy or just don't work in your life. As we work together, you will notice that your confidence grows and you have increased levels of self-esteem and the courage to change the things in your life that you want to change. Psychotherapy offers an opportunity to gain insight into your life, your life story and your relationships. By seeing things differently it is hoped that you will be able to make changes so you can life better.
The most important part of psychotherapy is our relationship and I always encourage people to come for just one session to see if we can work together and if you like the way I work. I also encourage people to let me know if I get soemthing wrong - this happens; I am only human. But how this happens and how you feel if this happens, is very important and may be a key to your healing so it's important to let me know.
My hope is to support you to make meaningful and effective changes in your life so that you feel happier, more in control and more fulfilled.
My wish is for you to become the person you want to be so that you can lead your life to your full potential - without anxiety, depression, negative beliefs, or whatever it is that is limiting you. In order to do this, I ask for you to be curious and without judgement, especially about yourself. The more curious you are about you, the more you will get out of therapy....
Typically psychotherapy and counselling can help people deal with :
- Feelings of depression, anxiety, stress or confusion
- Relationship difficulties
- Dissatisfactions with work or lifestyle
- Destructive behaviours, such as eating disorders, drug or alcohol abuse
- Illness or bereavement
- Difficulties arising from abuse
- The aftermath from traumatic experiences
- Negative and other destructive thought patterns
- Recovery from, or untangling oneself from abusive relationships
- Trauma - childhood trauma, relationship trauma, trauma from sexual abuse, trauma from workplace bullying..
Counselling or Psychotherapy?
In both, the aim is to help you identify, and change if necessary, those behaviours and modes of thinking that are contributing to your current unhappiness.
Counselling works with conscious difficulties, anxieties or distress. It tends to be solution-focused and short-term. Most Counselling training is short and counsellors are not always required to be in their own counselling.
Psychotherapy looks more deeply into the underlying causes of our inability to live life as fully as we would like. It tends to be a life-changing journey and longer-term. Because psychotherapy tends to be go deeper into the unconscious, psychotherapists typically spend 5-6 years in training and undergo their own long-term psychotherapy so that we can be able to more fully support you as you attend to your own healing.
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Tel: 07445-672295
Mic Austen
Masters degree in Counselling and Psychotherapy
EMDR Practitioner
EMDR Attachment-focused
Advanced Trauma Training
Brentwood Counselling and Psychotherapy
Tel: 07445-672295
Click here to email me
Accredited Counsellor & Psychotherapist
IMAGO Relationship Therapist
Sensorimotor psychotherapy for trauma
Trauma, PTSD, complex PTSD and Dissociative disorders
Individuals, Relationships and Couples Therapist
Counselling, Psychotherapy & EMDR in Brentwood, Shenfield, Chelmsford, Upminster, Hornchurch, Billericay in Essex
Paddington, Maida Vale, Little Venice, Bayswater, West London
United Kingdom Council of Psychotherapy
I am an experienced UKCP registered Psychotherapist, Counsellor and EMDR Practitioner working in private practice in Brentwood, Essex near Shenfield, Billericay and Chelmsford. I also work online, offering psychotherapy and tauma therapy to a wider population, not limited to geography!
