Integrative Psychotherapy involves a professionally trained therapist utilising areas from a variety of psychological approaches to work with a range of psychological and emotional issues.
The word Psychotherapy was initially derived from two greek words. The first part means mind and the second part means healing and making whole.
Within the therapeutic relationship I utilise integrative psychotherapies to help in the healing of your whole mind, whilst encouraging autonomy. You have the ability to summon self responsibility, personal accountability, self determination and self acceptance.
Integrative Psychotherapies can help with the following conditions and issues:
- Anxiety
- Anger
- Phobia
- Obsessive Compulsive Disorder OCD
- Post Traumatic Stress Disorder PTSD
- Bereavement
- Relationship difficulties
- Stress
- Work related issues
- Low confidence
- Low self esteem
My early counselling career was spent in general counselling practice. Background, training, and my consistent continuing professional development are useful factors toward comfortably and knowledgeably working within an integrative framework with my clients. I incorporate a psycho educative approach of theoretical models including Transactional analysis, Psychodynamic approaches and Mindfulness based cognitive therapy techniques to actively promote insight, understanding, life enhancement, personal growth, healing and change.
Transactional analysis (TA). The core of TA began with Eric Berne and since his death more than three decades ago its theory and practice have developed and grown. Basically though, it is an ego state (theory of personality) model which focuses on the three ways that people have of expressing their personality – Parent, Adult and Child ego states:
- At certain times in their lives and within social interactions a person will behave, think and feel in ways that replay their childhood – the person is said to be in their Child ego state.
- At other moments the same person may behave, think and feel in ways they copied/borrowed whilst growing up, from their parents or parent figures – the person is then said to be in their Parent ego state.
- When a person’s behaviour, thoughts and feelings are not replayed or copied from childhood, but instead are in direct response to what is happening in the here and now – the person is said to be in their Adult ego state.
By learning to recognise how and when your own ‘ego state’ patterns occur you can monitor and choose your responses to the ‘ego states’ being demonstrated by those around you, enabling greater feelings of confidence and empowerment. In our collaborative therapeutic relationship I would encourage identification and recognition of your unconscious conflict within the following four authentic emotions:
- Anger
- Sadness
- Fear
- Happiness
Psychodynamic approaches: Psychodynamic approaches in counselling and psychotherapy are based on a body of theory by several generations of psychoanalysts beginning with Sigmund Freud over a hundred years ago. The integration of psychodynamic counselling places focus of importance on your past, utilising ‘time-lines’ to encourage you to think, connect and talk about your early life relationships and attachments with parents or parent figures. Psychodynamic theories also acknowledge that you may have chosen to seek therapy at the point when you realise you are in a new (and sometimes overwhelming) stage in your life cycle with which you need therapeutic assistance. Therapeutic assistance enables unraveling, exploration and insight into where your future path lies and how to exercise autonomy to acceptably control your life.
Mindfulness based cognitive therapy techniques: MBCT grew out of the inspirational work of Jon Kabat-Zinn. Learning mindfulness based techniques help you to notice when your ‘autopilot’ takes you over. You can learn how to step out of your cycle of unhappiness, anxiety and stress and deal with your life events/situations more skilfully. I teach ‘here and now’ mindful relaxation techniques to help you focus your awareness on one thing at a time. Specifically, through using mindful focus you can resist the use of avoidance and start dealing with the difficulties that arise in your life. You can learn to break the chain reaction of negative automatic thoughts and negative self talk. Learn to reap beneficial returns by allowing yourself a wider range of opportunities to become a calm, open, compassionate and empathic observer of how you (and others) think, feel and show emotions.
Contact Elizabeth Welch for more information
