Tag Archives: Counselling

Counselling is a talking therapy involving non judgemental listening. Not as active or proactive as psychotherapy or psychoanalysis.

Dis-associative Disorders

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Psychological therapy for Dis-associative Disorders

Dis-associative disorders are conditions where the sufferer dis-associates for periods of time. What this means in basic terms is they mentally “switch off” or “blank” in a way that may either appear to be day dreaming, or which may just resemble a silent few moments. In more severe cases two other presentations may occur: dis-associating into a different personality, or with a loss of consciousness.

Short blank disassociations

This is the most likely version to be seen, the person reacts to stress or an anxiety trigger by “being elsewhere”. it can also be the result of a flash back being triggered where a historical event is being recalled. The person may appear inattentive, distance, and seem to be ignoring you. This can lead to misunderstanding, conflict and accusations of laziness or inattention, especially in adolescents in education or when it occurs in the workplace. Depending on whether a task is under way at the time, it is possible for this task to be interrupted for a moment, or even, for example, for a cup of tea being made to be split or dropped.

It should be noted that it is very hard to tell these short blanks apart from epileptic “absence” seizures and  it is important to discuss them with your medical doctor and not assume they are psychological in nature.  It should be remembered however that it is more usual for psychological disassociation to be misdiagnosed as epilepsy.

Personality change disassociation

In more severe cases the personality of the sufferer undergoes a change in the disassociated state and a person may appear to have changed in their behaviour, attitude and even in what they believe and remember. What occurs in this state may not be remembered afterwards.

It is a matter of debate whether this is related to schizophrenia or not,  with some sufferers of disassociation adamant that it is a different condition entirely, and some sufferers of schizophrenia claiming that their condition is itself a form of disassociation.

Loss of consciousness disassociation

Often called Non Epileptic Attack Disorder (NEAD) or pseudo-epilepsy,  this is the ultimate disassociation response. The person will loss consciousness and will often shake or spasm as one would expect to see in epilepsy. NEAD is often initially misdiagnosed as epilepsy.

Most people are aware of flight and fight responses to danger. The third response however is that seen in the humble possum. The person loses consciousness, lies still playing dead, the body is flooded by natural pain killers, and for the predator the sufferer / possum appears to be a long dead and unpalatable prey. This state is often associated with loss of bowel or bladder control, again to make the prey smell “off”.  This is a highly primal response to extreme danger.

Causes of disassociation

Disassociation occurs when the sufferer has a history of being faced by traumas such as abuse or rape which can not be coped with at their mental state or age. Thus it is common for these conditions to be present in adult survivors of child sexual abuse or domestic violence. Essentially the subject learns to “opt out” of the situation they are incapable of handling.

Treatment of disassociation

There are two main strategies for addressing disassociative disorders:

1. Increase the sufferer’s ability to cope with stressful situations. This may involve cognitive behavioural therapy to reduce stress response with methods like stress inoculation therapy. It may also involve analysis of interpersonal relationships to adjust perceptions and behaviours which may otherwise lead to conflict. Interpersonal psychotherapy methods, CBASP, CAT or other analytic cognitive behavioural methods might be employed. This is therefore an attempt to use psychoeducation and personal analysis to better manage the condition day to day.

2. Addressing any history of abuse. Addressing PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) as a condition may reduce the underlying effects presented as a disassociative disorder. Psychoanalysis, cognitive behavioural analysis, trauma debriefing such as specialist hypnotherapy “trauma runs” can all be used if appropriate.

Co-morbid presentation

It is common for persons with disassociate disorders to have a history of different diagnosis, and to have elements of different mental health conditions. These might include depression, anxiety, self harm, mood disorders or OCD.

Key words
Disassociation, disassociative disorder, disassociative seizures, NEAD, non epileptic attack disorder, possum response, flight and flight, PTSD, post traumatic attack disorder, sexual abuse, domestic violence, survivor of childhood abuse, child abuse survivor, personality change, mood change, mood disorder, anxiety, depression, OCD, self harm, multiple personalities, multiple personality disorders, loss of memory, stress response, psychotherapy, psychoanalysis, cognitive behavioural analysis, cognitive behavioural therapy, CBASP, CBT, hypnotherapy, counselling, psychotherapist, psychoanalyst, analyst, hypnotherapist, couhsellor, therapy, therapist, psychology, psychologist, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Falkirk, Stirling

Contact via the contact us page HERE

Professional Standards Authority Accredited Registers

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Professional Standards Authority Accredited Registers

 

The PSA has launched a report on the new Accredited Registers that list professional healthcare personnel not subject to Statutory regulation. Accredited Registers are professional registers that meet the stringent PSA standards for professional practice. They include registers for complementary therapists and holistic therapists such as the CNHC, NHS (hypnotherapy society) and FHT, and registers for counsellors and psychotherapists including the BACP, COSCA and UKCP.

Real standards, real contribution to health

The report discusses the real standards required to be registered on an AR, standards that protect the public and ensure quality has been checked.

The report also concludes that the AR registers must play a vital role in the provision of integrated healthcare in the UK

Accredited registers in our psychoanalytic practice

 

Both of our practitioners, Denise and Stuart are registered on both the CNHC and FHT Accredited Registers under the hypnotherapy category. The CNHC representatives on the 13th March 2015 at the meeting in Edinburgh confirmed they recognised that counselling and analysis were vital job functions for hypnotherapists and delegates commented that hypnotherapists virtually always provided these additional therapies.

Stuart and Denise are registered with the Society of Stress Managers, a professional body representing Analysis, Stress counselling and Hypnotherapy, and the National Association of Counsellors Hypnotherapists and Psychotherapists, both of which are CNHC accreditation routes. Although they use the titles of Analyst and Hypnotherapist, naturally psychotherapy and counselling are within their job functions, and as such they are registered and insured for these as well. Notably both therapists have received specific training in counselling, psychotherapy (including CBT), life coaching and psychology.

REPORT HERE

Key words
Professional standards authority, professional therapists, psychotherapy, counselling, hypnotherapy, psychoanalysis, analysis, CBT, cognitive behavioural analysis, Edinburgh, Falkirk, Stirling, life coaching, regulation

Student counselling

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Student counselling spaces available in Edinburgh

From time to time a dip in seasonal demand means we can take on more student counselling clients on low student rates. At this time of year most therapists are quieter than usual, and we are able to take on a limited number of additional student counselling clients.

Student counselling Edinburgh

Student counselling sessions with Scotlandtherapy start from just £25 per session, up to £35 per session and are highly discounted from full rate sessions.

Psychological therapies for Students Edinburgh

As well as counselling, students can access life coaching, hypnotherapy, psychotherapy, psychoanalysis and Indian Head Massage for no extra cost.

Deeper psychological distress or mental health counselling

Student counselling services provided by universities are only able to provide light level support, general counselling and often a limited number of sessions. We are able to work longer term, with deeper issues and with more serious presentations.

Clinic becoming busy

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Psychoanalysis, Hypnotherapy, Psychotherapy, Counselling in Edinburgh, Falkirk, Stirling and Glasgow

Currently there are no more spaces at any clinic this week (today is the 11th Sept).

Spaces filling up fast in Edinburgh, Falkirk and Stirling next week, especially the Thursday and Saturday clinic days.

Psychotherapy personal and couples appointments in Edinburgh, Falkirk and Stirling

For next week please contact us ASAP to still book in, availability is not too bad the week after although the Wednesday is pretty much full already and other days have various regular clots already taken.

We will do our best to make appointments available ASAP, and especially for those in immediate distress.

Psychoanalyst, clinical hypnotherapist, counsellor, psychotherapist, life coach, psychologist

Stuart is a CNHC registered hypnotherapist (voluntary regulator) and is on both the CNHC and FHT AVR schemes (accredited voluntary registers). He is a NACHP registered counsellor, hypnotherapist and psychotherapist, a senior accredited NCP psychotherapist, an IPP psychoanalytic psychologist, a SHTC life coach and complementary therapist, am FHT complementary therapist and a SSM analyst, hypnotherapist and stress management counsellor / consultant. He has clinics in Edinburgh, Falkirk, Stirling and Glasgow.

 

Key Words

Hypnotherapy, psychoanalysis, CBT, life coaching, psychotherapy, NLP, counselling, counsellor, psychotherapist, hypnotherapist, psychology, psychologist, psychoanalyst, life coach, Edinburgh, Falkirk, Stirling, Glasgow.

The Narrative in psychoanalysis

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Using the narrative in psychoanalysis and psychotherapy

The narrative, or the story being followed and invested in by the client is a concept often associated more with humanistic psychology and positive psychology because of it’s connection with eastern psychology. However the narrative can link very well to psychoanalysis.

Who am I, what is my archetype?

The archetype is sometimes the ideal person or concept that we strive to be. In his Red Book, Jung refers to having to slay the blond warrior and allowing oneself to become the authentic person. More generally the archetypes that correspond in our unconscious minds to ourselves and other key players in our lives are crucial to the make up of the narrative we follow.

The Lacanian mirror

To paraphrase the Lacanian idea, essentially there are three versions of us –  the real us, who we are pretty much unaware of because we are not happy with it, the ideal us or “super-me” who is perfectionism embodied (and who corresponds in many ways to an archetype) and the mirror image who we see of ourselves in the eyes and reactions of others.  Our narrative becomes focused on trying the third “me” to look like the “super-me” and this becomes a main part of the narrative.

The negative Narrative

In CBT having a negative narrative is often referred to as catatrophising. We ask “what if” repeatedly until we end up with disaster. “what if I get an unexpected bill, then what if I go overdrawn, then what if the rent check bounces, then what if my home is repossessed and I am living on the street with addiction issues”.  What often happens is we approach a problem with the expectation that something bad will happen, then we become anxious and tense in anticipation, creating anticipatory anxiety.

Having a positive anticipation looks completely different.  As a respected colleague John Parkin suggests in his mindfulness based teachings, what if you approach the problem with the idea that it will be really easy and straightforward. The first answer is –  no anticipatory fear and anxiety to make you freeze up or become stressed. The second answer is that you will approach it in an optimum state of calm preparedness –  flexible and calm, ready for anything even if things are not 100% perfect.

Object relations, the Kleinian model of relationships and our interactions teaches us about many of the problems with feelings of rejection, abandonment and conflict. The lessons we learn through these experiences often influence how we perceive and anticipate events, especially when they involve interacting with people.

Creating your own narrative

Creating your own narrative, and having the realisation that you have every right to create your own narrative is a very empowering concept. The narrative needs to focus as much as possible on the “real me” which in Lacanian theory we tend to suppress, enabling the concept of “authenticity” as much as possible. This means that we have an authentic concept of ourselves, and life around us, but have the courage to write the script of how that interaction might turn out. Using this model, and other techniques alongside it, the client can learn to make positive and proactive choices, reject old conditioning from others, and become aware that they are “good enough” –  neither “flawed”, nor destined to strive for “perfectionism”.

Psychoanalysis in Edinburgh, Falkirk and Glasgow

Stuart trained in psychoanalysis and clinical hypnotherapy from 1993-1996 with over 200 assessed cases (over 1,000 client hours) and external assessment via the NVQ system. He graduated in 1996 with a diploma in analysis and hypnotherapy and an NVQ Level 4 Training and Development. Since graduation he has completed CPD training in a range of other models of psychotherapy, counselling, coaching, NLP and mental health, along with a MSc Psychology.

Couples therapy

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Couples therapy Edinburgh, Glasgow, Falkirk

Stuart provides psychoanalytic couples therapy to couples of any sexual preference in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Falkirk.

Style of couples therapy Edinburgh, Glasgow, Falkirk

Stuart focuses on psychoanalytic models, looking at perceptions, communication gaps and linguistics of the couple. This enables the identification of behavioural and perceptual patterns both of each individual, and of the dynamic between them.

This then translates into awareness and conscious choice. Exercises and “real life” homework are suggested to enable change to extend beyond the therapy clinic.