CBT For Individuals, Families & Groups 

Depression/Low mood

‘Depression is common and negatively affects how you feel, the way you think, and how you act. (APA, 2019). The symptoms of depression may include, feelings of sadness, lack of interest in activities previously enjoyed, weight loss/gain, issues with sleep patterns and feelings of guilt or worthlessness. (APA, 2019).

If you struggle with depression/low mood, I will sensitively help you break down your reactions and thought patterns, and subsequent behaviour, while working on goals that both you and I have agreed on. My hope is that I can encourage you to remain motivated in your desire for change, and for you to realise that you are in control, of the ways in which you react to life’s very unexpected events.

Anxiety

Anxiety is an emotional response to life, bringing about feelings of tension and worrying thoughts. Individuals suffering from anxiety may experience recurring intrusive concerns and thoughts, resulting in avoidance of certain environments, which induce that fear. (APA, 2019).

If you are struggling with anxiety, I will work towards helping you find strategies which challenge your thinking and enable you toto look at your situations from a different perspective. I will help you understand the areas in your life that are keeping you feeling stuck, hopeless and in low mood. When you go through your steps, your overall confidence and self-esteem will improve. I will encourage you in time, to approach the specific situations and activities, that induce your anxiety, simply to allow you to realise that the outcomes you may fear, are unlikely to happen.

Bereavement

Bereavement could be defined as ‘the period of loss, during which grief is experienced and mourning occurs’ (Medicine Net, 2019). Grief could be explained as the intense emotional and physical reaction, experienced by individuals, following the death of a loved one (APA, 2016).

I have experienced the death of both of my parents (and many other close family relatives and friends) and each experience was unique. My mother died over 20 years ago, after a long battle with illness, and my father died very suddenly just a few months ago. The pain involved in processing the losses was very intense, but I can’t express that one loss was more difficult than the other to accept.

If you are struggling with the death of a loved one, I will partner with you, to encourage you not to rush the grief process, and to be patient with yourself, as you adapt to your loss. I will encourage you to find support from the right people, those who have an inbuilt capacity to meet your needs, and not those (albeit from a desire to help) who place their own ideas of grief, onto you. I will help you over time, to fill your days with activities, which offer a sense of achievement and normality, while keeping a part of your day, to think of the person you have lost. The purpose of this is to help you take control of any depression or anxiety, which may try to overwhelm you.

Low Self-Esteem

Low self-esteem could be defined as ‘having a generally negative overall opinion of yourself, judging or evaluating yourself negatively, and placing a negative value on yourself, as a person’ (CCI, 2018).

It may not be possible to find one cause for low self-esteem, as your beliefs about yourself have developed over a long period of time. If you struggle with low self-esteem, I will work with you to identify the negative, unhelpful thinking patterns you may have regarding yourself, and we will explore any distorted thinking which may have developed over time. If you tend to avoid any situations which bring about a fear of failure, I will encourage you to enter into those environments (and if you desire, I can accompany you to do so), and as you engage more fully with life, you will find your experiences more rewarding. We will work together to enable you to develop assertiveness, which will allow you to get alongside others, while also letting your true feelings be known, resulting in more deep and meaningful relationships taking place.