SERVICES & THERAPIES
We provide a number of different 1 to 1 therapies including Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT), Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) and Schema Work.
We can also provide expert witness court reports, neuropsychological testing, clinical supervision and corporate training. Please contact us to discuss these services.
Choosing the most appropriate therapy will be a joint-decision based on your needs. We will use our professional experience and training along with the evidence base and best practice guidelines to create an individual treatment plan for you. This may involve using one of the therapies mentioned above, or it may be that we work with several therapies in an integrative way.
We offer individual therapy appointments face to face in Galashiels as well as online appointments via Skype or Zoom. You can find out more about what a Clinical Psychologist is and how we differ to other therapists in the FAQ section.
We are not able to offer crisis support, therefore if you are likely to be a risk to yourself (though self-harm or suicidal behaviour) we would be unable to work with you. If you feel that you need immediate, urgent help please contact your GP, phone NHS 24 or visit your nearest A&E.
In addition to the opposite we have completed training and continuing professional development in a number of additional areas. Often we will work in an integrative way, combining therapies or elements from them to make an individual treatment plan. Additional skills and areas include counselling skills, schema work, imagery, problem solving therapy, prolonged exposure for trauma, safety and stabilisation and distress tolerance skills training.
COGNITIVE BEHAVIOURAL THERAPY (CBT)
CBT is a type of talking therapy based on the understanding that our thoughts, feelings, behaviours, physical responses, and environment are all inter-connected, and that these can trap you in a vicious cycle. It brings together cognitive therapy (the way we think) and behaviour therapy (what we do).
CBT is focused on the here and now. While it explores the past in terms of understanding why you may have certain patterns of thinking or behaving, it aims to help you deal with current overwhelming problems in a more positive way by breaking them down into smaller parts and use strategies to break the vicious cycle. CBT looks for practical ways to improve your state of mind on a daily basis. It includes homework tasks and usually involves thought challenging work and behavioural experiments..
CBT has been shown to be an effective way of treating a number of different mental health conditions including depression, anxiety, obsessive compulsive disorders (OCD), panic disorder, post traumatic stress disorder (PTDS) and phobias.
SCHEMA WORK
Schema therapy works with the underlying core schemas that can drive negative thoughts and unhelpful behaviours. Schemas are unhelpful patterns and beliefs that develop in childhood and adolescence when core emotional needs are not met. They can lead to repeating patterns of poor coping, relationship difficulties and distress.
CBT-E FOR EATING DISORDERS
CBT-E is an enhanced form of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) which has been developed specifically to treat eating disorders. It can be used to treat any form of eating disorder, including Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa, Binge Eating Disorder and disordered eating. It is designed to address the processes that maintaining an individual’s eating disorder.
CBT-E generally involves about 20 one-to-one treatment sessions over about 20 weeks, with twice-weekly sessions at first. Treatment takes longer with patients who are underweight, such as those with anorexia nervosa.
INTERPERSONAL PSYCHOTHERAPY (IPT)
IPT is a time-limited and structured psychotherapy mainly used to treat depression. A central idea in IPT is that psychological symptoms, such as depressed mood, can be a response to difficulties in our everyday interactions with others. In turn, the depressed mood can also affect the quality of our relationships.
An example of this may be someone who is depressed withdrawing from people and seeming to refuse help (perhaps because they feel ashamed and believe they are a failure). Those close to them may then feel rejected, hurt and confused as to why the depressed person does not want to spend time with them. Because of this they may then pull away and stop offering help. The depressed person may take this as evidence that they were right, people don’t want to be around them and they are a failure, and a vicious cycle can begin. IPT can help you explore your relationships, how they make you feel, and how you communicate and interact with other people.
The main focus areas in IPT are:
· Conflict with another person
· Life changes that affect how you feel about yourself and others, such as having a child or retiring.
· Grief and loss
· Difficulty in starting or keeping relationships going, or patterns of feeling unhappy in relationships
EYE MOVEMENT DESENSITIZATION AND REPROCESSING (EMDR)
EMDR is a technique for processing past painful experiences and traumatic memories so they may be integrated more adaptively and not cause the same level of distress.
EMDR focuses on the idea that traumatic experiences can overwhelm a person’s normal way of coping. This means that the experience is not completely processed and the memory (and the feelings that go with it) are still remembered, usually on an unconscious level.
What this means is that the person never really gets over or past that experience. As a result, they continue to suffer from the symptoms from PTSD, anxiety, etc. or they can attempt to cope in dysfunctional ways such as substance abuse, binge eating, compulsive gambling, or other destructive behaviours.
EMDR uses what we call bilateral stimulation (using both sides of the brain) to ‘unblock’ memories and help process them.