Somatic Experiencing®
(Somatic Therapy)
Reconnecting the mind with the body
How does it make you feel? This is a cliched question of therapists the world over. Often our answers aren't informed by our bodies but by our meaning making
machine, the brain. I feel sad, I feel happy, I feel frustrated. Somatic work is integrated naturally into how I work and simply means that we begin to be aware of not just how you perceive your feelings in your head, but where you feel them in your body. Tightness in the chest or noticing your breathing becoming shallow or your heart rate increasing. Your brain and body do not exist independently. Becoming aware of how they interact and feed off each other is essential to fully understanding your reactions to stressors in your life and to resolving those trauma responses in the body that become stuck.
Therapy is for Everyone
Life is Hard
Many people think that their life experience doesn’t warrant therapy, but mental wellbeing is not defined by an absence of adversity. We all have good days and we all have bad days and we all have a threshold at which we find we can no longer cope with the things that are presenting themselves in our lives.
This ability to cope is not a constant thing. Mental health issues do not just happen in extraordinary circumstances, the majority of them happen in very ordinary spaces, and over a prolonged period of time.
Therapy promotes an environment that invites growth, exploration, and understanding of what it is to be human.
This is the journey of life and it is in a state of constant motion.
Men In Therapy
The Role of Socialisation in Masculinity
Counselling for men need not look any different to any other therapy. We’re all human and we all bleed when we’re wounded. The fundamental difference between most men and women in our society is that it is more accepted, and expected, that women will seek help when they are in crisis. That has nothing to do with biology.
You are human, you fall down and you get up just like everyone else. In some seasons of your life you may need help getting up. That is not about male or female, weakness or strength. It’s just human.
Bullying or Boarding School Survivors
Reaching Out for Help is a Sign of Strength
The long term effects of bullying cannot be overstated regardless of your age. Unexplored and left to fester, these experiences work their way into our every day lives and into our relationships with friends and family.
Boarding School Survivors
Boarding school elicits a very different form of emotional distress, be it an acute sense of neglect, abandonment or feeling of being trapped. Boarding school adults are often high achieving, competent individuals who find it very difficult to ask for help.
If you feel that you cannot access counselling at this time but still need to reach out you can text SHOUT to 85258 and a trained volunteer will be there to have a confidential conversation with you via text.
If you prefer to speak to someone, please call the Samaritans on 116123 or the NHS mental health helpline 111.
If you are in need of immediate medical assistance call 999.