Integrative Psychotherapy

Integrative Psychotherapy combines different approaches to human functioning. Each approach provides a partial explanation of behaviour and each is enhanced when selectively integrated with other aspects of the therapist's method.

As an integrative psychotherapist, my aim is to adapt the approaches I use in order to facilitate my clients' development. I put emphasis on the importance of the relationship between myself and the client, believing in my client’s ability to take responsibility for themselves and their choices, and their capacity to fulfil their talents.

Feelings such as anxiety, stress, guilt, rage and fear, regardless of cause, are unhealthy if they are long-lasting and go unprocessed.

EMDR involves a very specific set of procedures to help 'digest' upsetting experiences. When an event has been sufficiently processed, we remember it but do not experience the old emotions or sensations in the present. We are informed by our memories, not controlled by them.

EMDR therapy is widely recognized as an effective form of treatment distinct from the other major modalities.

This article further explains the process. 

EFT, commonly known as 'Tapping' is a mind-body approach to emotional wellbeing. It brings together elements of exposure, cognitive therapy and somatic stimulation. Research has shown that EFT works by stimulating pressure points on the body, resulting in a calming effect on the amygdala (the stress centre of the brain) and the hippocampus (the brain's memory centre).

The emphasis in EFT is on accepting the problem and your feelings about it, before distressing and uncomfortable feelings and self-limiting thoughts or behaviours can be changed and more positive emotional states, beliefs or goals can be created.

 Therapy goes deeper with dream work as we can explore emotions that may not be accessible through other means. Dreams help you see life in a different way and often raise topics that wouldn’t normally be discussed. At other times, dreams take you to the heart of the matter and offer creative solutions to problems you are experiencing in your waking life. Even the most simple or obvious dreams can have value and be a real source of transformation.

The waking dream technique is a way to connect and engage with the unconscious world by allowing the dream to be present and listened to. The waking dream process uses psychological understanding and somatic processing to unlock the dream’s potential and facilitate personal development.

 MI  is a counselling approach which emphasises change from within the client. MI techniques rest on findings in clinical experience and research showing that clients who believe that they can change do so, and “those who are told that they are not expected to improve indeed do not” (Miller, & Rollnick, 2014).

MI is a highly effective evidence based approach first used in the addiction field. This person-centred counselling style is used for addressing the ambivalence arising when change is considered, addressing motivation to change and support in making changes. It is often recommended as an evidence-based approach to behaviour change.

 The Rewind Technique is an effective treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), phobias and anxiety. In one or two sessions this approach can help de-traumatise painful memories, stop flashbacks and other PTSD symptoms, cure phobias, banish nightmares and reduce anxiety.*

A major benefit of this technique is that it is non-intrusive – you won’t have to talk about the details of the traumatic incident(s) unless you want to.

* Whilst I have been amazed at the results obtained when using Rewind, EMDR and EFT, I cannot guarantee the outcome.