types of counselling we offer

CBT helps you tackle emotional and behavioural issues by challenging your thoughts, beliefs and actions in a structured way. Your therapist will work with you to create specific strategies to help you change and manage your difficluties.

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Not everything is easily expressed in words and using the arts provides a unique way for new insights to emerge. Creativity can help change the way we think and behave, encouraging increased self-awareness and understanding.

IAP uses a range of different art forms. This can include the visual arts, music and drama. You don’t need any particular skills or experience to benefit from arts psychotherapy.

This approach encourages your personal development, along with your relationship to yourself, to others and to the wider society. Central to achieving this is a safe and trusting working relationship between you and your therapist.

IAP also takes into account other established models, such as the psychodynamic, client-centred and cognitive approaches.

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Traditionally psychotherapy is practised face to face. However, many practitioners now offer other ways to connect to their clients.

Therapy sessions via telephone or skype can be particularly useful if:

• You are unable to get to face to face meetings because of your location, schedule or for mobility issues
• You feel less anxious talking to someone from a familiar surrounding such as your own home
• Something unexpected means you cannot make your planned appointment.

It can also be used in combination with face to face therapy – for example, you might have your initial appointment face to face and then some subsequent Skype sessions.

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This reduces the effects of disturbing memories caused by traumatic events. EMDR is used within a comprehensive treatment plan to promote your recovery from a relevant problem. It alleviates or reduces the symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). EMDR processes information or memories that have got stuck in the brain’s neurological pathways and it aims to develop new and more accurate associations with the memory.

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Trauma can result from any experience when you perceive yourself, or someone close to you, to be at risk of serious harm or death. This can trigger overwhelming stress and impede your capacity to cope. Typical causes of trauma include:

• Sexual assault
• Domestic violence
• Natural disasters
• Conflict / war
• Road accidents
• Childhood experiences
• Emotional abuse
• Bullying (including cyber-bullying)
• Bereavement
• Chronic illness
• Redundancy

Sometimes people come to therapy specifically as a result of a single traumatic experience (“single episode trauma”) or after enduring a period of trauma (“complex trauma”). It is also now

recognised that being indirectly exposed to traumatic experiences can cause trauma symptoms. This is known as “secondary trauma”, for example, call centre staff dealing with victims of abuse.

At on route, we use the term trauma counselling where our work focuses on helping your current trauma symptoms rather than exploring past experiences or longer-term issues.

Trauma counselling can help

• Process traumatic events safely
• Reduce common symptoms such as nightmares and flashbacks
• Reduce anxiety levels and manage mood fluctuations
• Provide coping strategies and practical support
• Help prevent prolonged psychological difficulties

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If you need to take stock, our coach can provide a supportive and safely challenging listening environment. Coaching will help you ask powerful questions and create a positive space in which to answer them.

Our life review process will enable you to build a compelling and uplifting vision for your life, work and family. It will help you understand the values that matter most to you. Coaching will help you plan to achieve your vision, taking into account potential obstacles and provide a simple measurement for success.

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This is used to help people process and resolve traumatic incidents. Typically it has been used by the emergency services following events such as natural disasters, stabbings and other attacks, but can also be used after other traumatic events.

It is a structured model that allows you to debrief your experience and focuses on the facts of the trauma rather than exploring the feelings associated with it. Its goal is to prevent symptoms developing into post traumatic stress syndrome or other mental health conditions.

PD can be carried out 1:1 or in groups and the process is covered in one session. Typically, this would last around 1.5 hours with an individual person and around 2.5 hours with a group. Part of the session allows for psycho-education around the physiological effects of trauma and an assessment of further recommended support.

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