Psychotherapy and counselling can help.
Psychotherapy and counselling can help with a lot of different personal and professional issues including:
Stress
Given the pace of daily living and the demands placed on you, it’s easy to understand the normal level of stress experienced by the average person. Because it is impossible to be stressed and relaxed at the same time, developing techniques for alleviating distress (negative stress) is an important step in coping with life stressors. Difficulties leading to stress are often related to how you interact with your environment. Behavior that can result in unnecessary stress includes:
• Attempting to do too much at one time
• Unrealistic time estimates/poor time management
• Procrastinating on the unpleasant
• Disorganization
• Poor listening skills
• Doing it all yourself
• Unable to say “no”
• Impulsive, snap decisions
• Blaming others, not taking responsibility for own life
Stress is the emotional and physical strain caused by our response to pressure from the outside world. Common stress reactions include tension, irritability, inability to concentrate, poor sleep, poor appetite, and a variety of physical symptoms that include headache, anxiety, nausea, rashes, bowel problems, back problems and a fast heartbeat.
Anxiety
Anxiety is when you feel fearful and tense, for example if you are confronted by an angry person. It can also be a feeling of unease, for example during exams or worrying about an interview.
The psychological symptoms of anxiety include:
- feeling worried or uneasy a lot of the time,
- having difficulty sleeping – making you feel tired,
- an inability to concentrate,
- being irritable or quick to get angry,
- feeling that you have no control over your actions
- feeling detached from your environment.
Feeling anxious can not only affect you emotionally, but it can also mean you experience unpleasant physical symptoms, such as:
- fast heart rate,
- breathing faster,
- palpitations (irregular heat beats),
- feeling sick,
- chest pains,
- headaches,
- dry mouth,
- sweating.
These physical symptoms are usually as a result of your brain sending out multiple messages to various parts of your body when you’re feeling anxious. These messages tend to make your heart and lungs work faster.
When you are feeling anxious your body begins to release a stress hormone called adrenaline. This is another reason why your heart beats faster and you breathe more rapidly.
Depression
Depression is a “whole-body” illness, involving your body, mood, and thoughts. It affects the way you eat and sleep, the way you feel about yourself, and the way you think about things. A depressive disorder is not the same as a passing bad mood. It is not a sign of personal weakness or a condition that can be willed or wished away. People with a depressive illness cannot merely “pull themselves together” and get better. Without treatment, symptoms can last for weeks, months, or years. Appropriate treatment, however, can help most people who suffer from depression.
Triggers:
Sometimes, a specific stressful experience, such as a bereavement or new challenge, then strains a person’s coping resources so much that depression has a way in. In other cases, there is no obvious trigger and depression sneaks in quietly and reinforces itself without the person realising. Whatever the reason or trigger, if you feel depression may be affecting you, make an appointment with a university counsellor. They can help with referrals – remember, only doctors and healthcare professionals can diagnose depression.
Warning Signs:
Depression affects people in different ways. There are a range of warning signs which may indicate depression is trying to move in on your life. Most of these can also be a normal part of the ups and downs of everyday life and most people will have experienced some of these signs at some time.
• Persistently sad, anxious, empty or generally low mood
• Loss of interest (in studies and life in general)
• Lethargy or decreased energy
• Irregular sleep or change in sleep pattern
• Appetite or weight changes
• Increased tearfulness
• Restlessness
• Poor concentration and difficulty making decisions
• Hopelessness and pessimism:
• Feelings of helplessness
• Feelings of worthlessness or guilt
• Thoughts of death or suicide
If you can see a trend of several of these signs which have persisted over several weeks then take it seriously. Check whether depression may be affecting you and take appropriate action – book some sessions with Louise.
Trauma and Acute Stress
Trauma is a response to a real or perceived threat – can make people feel agitated (hyper-aroused). It can also make people shut down (hypo-aroused). People experiencing trauma can experience one or the other and often both at different times. Being hyper-aroused can make it difficult to sleep and concentrate. It can also make you irritable and angry. Sometimes people feel like they are unable to breathe properly and their heart is racing. Or startle easy as you are constantly ‘on guard’.
Coping Strategies for Dealing with Trauma and Acute Stress.
1. Breathing
Trauma survivors often over-breathe. This is when people breathe faster when they are threatened. This can make some people hyperventilate. Others can experience panic attacks.
Our rate of breathing also affects our heart rate, blood pressure and the rest of our body. Slowing breathing slows other processes in our body. It also lowers our level of arousal. This, in turn, reduces tension and stress. Slowing our breathing down can help turn off the ‘fight/flight’ response.
You can use the following ‘controlled breathing techniques’ as soon as you start to feel tense, anxious or to panic. You can also use it before any difficult situations. Here’s how.
Focus on your breathing.
Try to breathe evenly
Lengthen your breath
Try to make your breath out slighter longer than your breath in e.g. in for the count of 3 and out for the count of 5.
Box breathing is another technique you can try to help relieve stress or anxiety. Breathe in for 4, hold for 4, breathe out for 4, hold for 4 and repeat.
If you find breathing difficult, lie down and place a small pillow or piece of clothing on your stomach and watch it rise up and down slowly as you breathe.
Doing this every day, if you can manage it, will help lower your stress levels.
Focusing on breathing is particularly effective when you are able to ground yourself. Feel the earth under your feet, the seat you are sitting on. Looking out of a window, stepping outside into the fresh air. These strategies can enhance the effectiveness of breathing.
If panic sets in quickly and it is too hard for you to breathe through it, try breathing in and out of a paper bag.
2. Repetitive movements
Doing repetitive movements can be help calm us e.g. try knitting, bouncing a ball, jumping on a trampoline, drumming, colouring in.
3. Mindfulness
Mindfulness practices can help us connect to our bodies. They help us become more aware of how our body is responding at different times. We can observe what is happening in our body and know that it will pass.
Examples include: Do I get a tight throat? A headache? Tight stomach? Hot, cold? etc. when I feel scared?
You might scan your body, focus on your body as your attention goes from the top of your head down to your toes. Notice how your body feels as you pay attention to it.
When we sit still and breathe we are being mindful. Simply breathing in through your nose and out through your mouth, with awareness, and calmly, just sitting can help relieve anxiety.
Mindfulness helps us learn to respond instead of reacting. It is empowering. It also helps with critical self-talk.
There are many books, websites and classes for mindfulness available. Choose one that suits you. Then you can use it when you need to.
Hypo-arousal
When you’re feeling spaced out, shut down or ‘unreal’ you might be dissociated or hypo-aroused.
Being hypo-aroused is a survival response. It is a `freeze’ response – also known as dissociation. When we freeze we might zone out. Shut down. Go onto autopilot.
It is best to try and notice as soon as are feeling overwhelmed and are shutting down. When we do, we can then use one or more of the following exercises to help us get back into our bodies in the present.
The following grounding exercises can help us get back into our bodies:
* pushing your feet into the ground
* pushing your backside into the chair
* standing up and stomping your feet against the floor
* pushing your fingernails into the palms of your hands
* stretching
* moving
your imagination is the limit …
The following ‘orienting’ exercises can help us orientate to the here and now:
* looking around the room and naming 5 things that begin with C ( or any letter for example)
* looking at objects and naming them
* focusing on someone else talking
* naming the day, date, time, year
Other ideas include, using cold water on your face, touching ice, flicking a rubber band on your wrist, a warm shower followed by a cold one. Activate your senses. Smells and tastes are good: something to distract or cut through the numbness quickly, minty or citrous spalls, tastes. Some things work for some people: others for others. Choose whatever helps you so you can do it when you feel you are shutting down. And you can practice any of these at any time!
Sexual and Sexuality Issues
Sexual difficulties may begin early in a person’s life, or they may develop after an individual has previously experienced enjoyable and satisfying sex. A problem may develop gradually over time, or may occur suddenly as a total or partial inability to participate in one or more stages of the sexual act. The causes of sexual difficulties can be physical, psychological, or both.
Emotional factors affecting sex include both interpersonal problems and psychological problems within the individual. Interpersonal problems include marital or relationship problems, or lack of trust and open communication between partners. Personal psychological problems include depression, sexual fears or guilt, or past sexual trauma.
Low Self Confidence:
When you have low self confidence, your faith in your ability to meet whatever life presents you has been shaken. You may be stuck in self-pity and a sense of worthlessness. You may assume that other people are criticizing you even when they’re not. From this negative place, you may believe that you’ll never do anything right.
Eating Disorders
An eating disorder is characterised by abnormal eating habits that may involve either insufficient or excessive food intake to the detriment of an individual’s physical and emotional health. The causes of eating disorders are complex and not yet fully understood.
Please feel free to contact me if you would like to discuss any of these issues that you may be experiencing or any other issues you may be having or to book some therapy or counselling sessions
