WELCOME CHANGE THERAPY
Psychotherapy and Counselling, Jersey,
Channel ISlands
cliodhna smith
BSc (Hons) Psychology, UKCP (Accred), MBACP (Reg)
Welcome Change Therapy is a psychotherapy and counselling service provided by Cliodhna Smith in Jersey to support people (individuals and couples) who are struggling with emotional and/or mental health issues. I provide a confidential and non-judgmental counselling and psychotherapy service for those wishing to explore and understand their issues, so that they can take the necessary steps to begin living the life they wish to live.
"Change occurs when one becomes what he is, not when he tries to become what he is not"
Dr Arnold Beisser (1970)
Do you recognise that you need to make changes in your life but don't know how to? Perhaps you've tried to make those changes but find yourself unable to implement and maintain them. You might find yourself repeating unhelpful patterns of behaviour time and time again and wonder, "Why do I keep doing that"? Perhaps you are feeling 'stuck' and unable to move on from past events. What if I told you that trying hard to change doesn't often work and that understanding, validating and accepting your feelings and yourself is how the real changes happen? Self-acceptance is what I focus on in my counselling and psychotherapy work with my clients; it's the holy grail, if you like. When you accept yourself, you value yourself and this usually leads to healthier relationships, both with yourself and with others.
Use the contact box below to book your FREE consultation *The initial consultation is free of charge if you book in further sessions
What is Psychotherapy?
Psychotherapy (sometimes called 'Counselling') involves the Client talking about issues relating to their mental or emotional wellbeing and how that impacts on their thoughts and behaviours. The Therapist will ask questions and might also make observations, while reflecting back what they have heard. It is not an advice-giving service - how do I know what's best for you?
There are many different approaches to psychotherapy or counselling but my view is that one size does not fit all. The integrative approach that I use, means each client can have the treatment tailormade for their needs. This is a collaborative approach and I don't assume that I know what's best for my clients. The Therapist-Client relationship is at the very heart of the work and trust needs to be built in order to maximise the outcome for the Client. We are driven by many unconscious processes and this work attempts to bring those into awareness so that they can be understood in terms of how they are impacting on a client's life. Supporting clients to ultimately support themselves is how I see my role as a Psychotherapist.
General issues for which PSYCHOTHERAPY OR COUNSELLING MIGHT HELP
**Click here for a more comprehensive list of issues I can help with
Depression
Depression is more than just sadness. People with depression may experience a lack of interest and pleasure in daily activities, significant weight loss or gain, insomnia or excessive sleeping, lack of energy, inability to concentrate, feelings of worthlessness or excessive guilt and recurrent thoughts of death or suicide. Click on the short video below, which explains depression in terms of living with the 'black dog''.
Anxiety
Anxiety is a normal part of life but when it gets in the way of everyday functioning and prevents us from living the life we want to live, then it becomes a problem and it might be called a 'disorder'. Professional help in the form of counselling might be required. There are different types of anxiety disorders and a person might be living with more than one or it might co-exist with another mental health condition, such as depression. Click here for more information.
The video below explains 'high functioning' anxiety, where a person might seem ok on the outside and they are often busy people who take on more and more but inside they are swamped- they are not sure how to stop and what might happen if they do.
Trauma
People often think of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) when they hear the word, 'trauma'. Thankfully, most people who experience trauma, don't develop PTSD, which usually involves a threat to life or limb (except in the case of childhood sexual abuse). In fact, many people overcome trauma without the need for any professional counselling or psychotherapy. If you have suffered trauma, it might have been triggered by an identifiable single event or a series of events over a longer period of time (such as abuse). However trauma is categorised, it involves a bodily response to the event(s). In my psychotherapy practice, I work with clients in using their bodies to both guide the work and most importantly, in ensuring that the client is stabilised before any thought can be given to processing the trauma. It is also important for clients to understand what happens in the brain when we respond to trauma. See the video below for a short introduction to trauma therapy.
Eye Movement Desensitisation & Reprocessing (EMDR Therapy)
Adaptive Information Processing (AIP) theory was developed to explain the observed results of EMDR therapy delivered to individuals experiencing trauma and PTSD. The AIP model hypothesizes that maladaptively stored memories of trauma create obstacles to rational processing of information, which occurs in the prefrontal cortex area of the brain. EMDR seeks to re-process such memories in a healthy way, so that they may become more manageable and tolerable. In addition to trauma, EMDR can also be used for issues such as anxiety, phobias, obsessive compulsive disorder, addictions and pain management.
Take a look at the video below, to better understand EMDR.
Loss & Bereavement
Loss can mean many things to many people. It could be the death of a loved one (person or animal), the loss of a relationship, job, health, a dream, amongst other things. We all experience loss differently, even if on the surface, the situations might seem similar. Loss is such a personal experience that I find people often feel isolated because others cannot understand their loss. They can feel judged for not ' moving on' from their loss after some arbitrary period of time. You might have heard of the 'five stages of grief' but no theory can tell YOU how you should experience YOUR grief. I promise to follow your lead on how you want to process your loss, while supporting you in finding ways through it.