Counselling & psychotherpy services
Chorlton | MANCHESTER

There are times in our lives where we’ve all experienced anger and it’s ok.  Anger is an important human emotion that can bring about positive change and enrich our day to day lives. However, if your anger is taking control of you it can lead to destructive behaviour perhaps leaving you doing things you regret, feeling shame and alienation from those close to you.  If left unaddressed it can be harmful and lead to long term damaging health problems.

If you’re struggling with anger we can work together to explore it’s roots.  Normally it is a response to a perceived threat when we feel under attack, perhaps a result of criticism, bullying, humiliation, betrayal or maybe even your own internal sense of failure or injustice.  Although it is impossible to remove anger from our lives, having identified it’s roots we can work together to examine triggers and their associated responses and use the awareness to gain insight into how you can manage responses in future situations.

Some of the things we can do together include looking at impulse control, by learning and practicing techniques that may help decrease arousal intensity.  We can consider meditation, breathing techniques, relaxation strategies or using an anger diary.  We can work together to find what interventions best work for you.  It is possible to feel in control, by learning how to create the right conditions to avoid anger escalating in difficult situations.

Self-harm can take many forms, all of which are a negative response to an individual’s distress.  I want to acknowledge if you are self-harming that I know that you are doing the best you can to cope with deep emotional pain that feels terrifying and overwhelming.   I will work with you compassionately and without judgement of your outward expression to gain an understanding of your behaviour, it’s value and meaning in your life.

By doing this together we can identify whether your self-harm is for self-regulation or self-punishment and use this insight to work on grounding and stabilisation.  I can help you learn and practice techniques to help bring your awareness back into your body and the present moment.  We may also look at other approaches such as more physical or somatic exercises that focus on the body.

We can consider ways to help yourself soothe in a more compassionate and kind way and look at self-care.  Through regular grounding and stabilisation, it is possible to discover how to calm yourself and develop more healthy behaviours to allow yourself to heal.

Having trained and volunteered for a number of years with local women’s organisations I have a particular passion and interest in working with women.  The area of women’s issues is vast, but some of the specific concerns I can help support with include the following:

• Child sexual abuse
• Sexual assault/rape and sexual violence
• Sexism and oppression
• Perinatal and postnatal depression

If you are experiencing or have experienced any of the above it is likely that you will feel a range of emotions from mild sadness to despair, hopelessness, shame, guilt, worthlessness, obsessive negative thoughts, feeling unloved, insecure, feeling anxious or depressed.

We can work together to identify and understand your struggles.  I can help you gain tools and strategies to help change behaviours and deal with painful experiences.

Domestic violence can take many forms of which some are difficult to recognise.  Counselling can help.  Working together I can help you gain the clarity that you need to assess abusive situations and help you feel empowered to make decisions or rebuild your confidence.  I will work with you without judgement to gain an understanding of your situation and allow you a safe space to talk through and express difficult emotions.

Abuse of any kind can shatter confidence and leave us feeling worthless and overwhelmed.  I can help support you in a number of ways, perhaps helping you create a safety plan, helping you to manage trauma symptoms, supporting with grounding and stabilisation, working with anger, shame, guilt and trust issues.  I can help you overcome your own personal challenges and psychological distress, so you can find happiness and form relationships again.