Modern therapy services
empowering personal freedom
Modern therapy services
empowering your personal freedom
Slider

Counselling for couples 

My work with couples seeks to support people who are looking to refocus their relationship after a trauma or difficulty, as well as help couples to facilitate a constructive ending of romantic relationship, yet in turn protect any joint parenting responsibilities. My work enables clients to better understand and experience how the current relationship can be guided by past influences, for example, previous relationships as well as their family cultural heritage.

My model of working is informed and grounded by the IMAGO relationship therapy model (Harville Hendrix). The IMAGO model is an internationally recognised way of working offers clients a relational counselling model to help them better understanding how to transform conflict into growth opportunities.  I work with a practical frame, this includes offering couples exercises to enhance their couple dialogue and how then; listen, communicate and show empathy to each other, so that they can strengthen the aims moving forward. This way of working is effective to help a couple recognise that the differences that are present in a relationship is linked to the initial attraction between them, and consequently, how they move forward with greater acceptance and integration of difference.

The IMAGO model also helps people better understand the impact of childhood on relationship choices, as well as understanding the role of anxiety and how they can struggle to meet their needs within their relationship. Applying psycho education to relevant neuroscience within the sessions, further awareness enables clients and couples to better identify and acknowledge cut off emotions such as fear, anxiety and anger. Subsequently, they find new ways of expressing feelings with authenticity and with greater positive choice within the relationship dynamic.

I bring coaching techniques for effective relationship building, from 9 years experience developing managers, solid teams and conflict resolution as CEO at The Counselling Foundation. I led an organisation of over 200 people influencing through times of both change and growth. Other relevant training I have undertaken in this field includes the advanced psycho sexual training at NOAS, Regents College, in London, and I offer support to clients who present with specific distress concerning sex or sexuality.

 

Therapy-insight

 Below I outline some of the core areas that I specialise in. However, I understand that approaching therapy can be a complicated task so early on I will work with the client to explore what are the key issues or changes they seek to make and ensure that any model or proposed way of working is easy to understand, and as we are working together as a team on this. The key areas I cover;

Relationship Focussed Therapy

Therapy for Business Leaders

Reducing Depression and
Anxiety

Counselling or Coaching
for couples

Overcoming blocks and life crisis

Working with Trauma and EMDR

Relationship focussed therapy

Experience of my private practice in Berkhamsted and Kensington, London leads me to believe that the quality of personal relationships are crucial in determining levels of well-being, and a primary reasons for distress and anxiety being people’s relationship to self or others. Issues that can lead people to seek support can be triggered by a change in career, addictive behaviours causing concern in their lives or distress through a crisis in a personal relationship.

In my relationship focussed counselling model for example, I work with the belief that healthy relationship to both self and others, is central to increased personal happiness and fulfilment. The experience of the therapeutic relationship uniquely provides clients a process which enables positive change. I support clients to better understand their patterns of attachment, and how relationships now can reflect and represent relationships from the past.

 

These relationships not only provide purpose and meaning but support individuals during periods of difficulty and stress. The Office for National Statistics (ONS), reported that those people reported high satisfaction with life, 84% of these people reported high satisfaction with personal relationships, the correlation held true between low life satisfaction and low satisfaction in personal relationships (ONS 2011). In the UK in 2011 one in twenty adults over 16 reported being completely lonely.

The therapy space also allows the client to explore feelings of anxiety or shame that can be present in relationship difficulties and where there is a psycho-sexual factor in the presenting problem, or how the client differs between fantasy and reality in relationship and create realistic goals for relationship with self and others. 

 

couple counselling
couple counselling

Counselling for Couples

A safe space to look to explore and resolve issues in your relationship and whether this is with the aim to stay together or how to choose to end the relationship, in a way that is constructive.

This work initially can help a couple better understand the qualities and attributes that brought them together which might now be creating distress, the goal of intervention to improve understanding of each other, more effective communication and connection.

However often an ending of relationship still requires the courage, communication and resilience with team working beyond this decision for example to ensure a solid practical relationship to navigate joint parenting responsibilities. The therapy process can help a couple focus on the necessary communication and team working that is necessary, so that they can be effective in their responsibilities with each other, and minimise conflict.

Couples counselling offered in Berkhamsted or London enables clients to explore their patterns of attachment, how the relationships in their lives link to past relationships and draw on the therapy alliance to facilitate growth and repair.

Work delivered by Creative Insight Talking Therapies Limited Company House number 11538159