How I Work - BRIEF THERAPY

This page describes the different approaches I offer in Therapy. With most of my clients I will offer a combination of them, depending on the problems they come with, as well as their unique personality style. Often adjusting my approach as we go along.

All these approaches have strengths and limitations. My purpose is to give you an honest appraisal of each.

Table of Contents

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)

As the name implies ACT starts with accepting your difficult experiences around thoughts, feelings, unmet needs, conflicts with others, situations you avoid – and general ‘stuckness’. Before moving on to commitments: doing what is important in line with your important values: love, work, well-being, etc.

ACT works on your relationship with a difficult thought or feeling rather than trying to argue you out of it. Instead of disputing the content of an anxious thought, it asks you to notice it, make room for it, and act on what matters to you anyway. I use it often alongside the awareness-based work I describe in my new book FLOAT, particularly with persistent, difficult, states of mind which no amount of analysis or insight will shift.

ACT may not be appropriate for distressed clients who are experiencing trauma, unresolved emotions, or who are operating in unsafe environments.

Mindfulness-Based Approaches

Mindfulness, properly used in a clinical setting, isn’t a relaxation technique, though relaxation sometimes follows as a side effect. It’s a trained capacity to notice what’s happening in your mind and body without immediately being swept into it – the same skill that underpins a good deal of the Float method. I bring it into sessions with clients whose main difficulty is being pulled along by a thought or sensation faster than they can evaluate it, which covers a great deal of anxiety, overthinking and stress work.

Some clients may find mindfulness difficult to practice, although this may be due to their practicing a technique that doesn’t suit them. Where this is the case I explore other approaches with them. Those might include relaxation techniques or hypnosis.

Read more on the Mindfulness-Based Therapy page.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)

CBT is the most commonly used approach in the UK and USA, and is one of the older examples of Brief Therapy (meaning less than ten sessions). The main focus is on dysfunctional thoughts, common examples being catastrophic thoughts, negative self-judgments and rule-based thoughts that dictate rigid patterns of behaviour. In therapy clients are shown how to notice, question and replace problematic thoughts. Following on from that they engage in new (or revised) behaviours that support their new beliefs. Mindfulness-based CBT adds mindfulness techniques to the mix.

CBT works well for people who like a step-by-step, active, approach and are comfortable with cognitive work. It is less suited to those who dislike structured work, or who are in crisis.

Read more on the Cognitive Behavioural Therapy page.

Solution-Focused Therapy

Brief Solution-focused therapy is similar to coaching, and works well for those who want a simple way through life problems – at work, in relationships and in the home, and during stressful periods. It is a fast approach to therapy, especially when you have a clear idea of where you want to improve.

It sets aside the question of how or why a problem started and looks instead at what can be done to improve the client’s position now. Focusing on what’s already working (and expanding on that), strengths, resources and opportunities for change.

It is unsuited for clients who want to explore deep-seated emotional and relational difficulties, or those who need support with long-standing mental health issues.

Read more on the Solution-Focused Therapy page.

EMDR Therapy

EMDR was developed for the treatment of Trauma and, more specifically, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Although it can also be employed for the relief of painful memories and stressful experiences in general.

EMDR is not a talking therapy. It uses one specific technique which aims at disrupting the brain’s retrieval processes, and neutralising traumatic or distressing experiences from the past.

Its use is restricted to these specific problems, and is not appropriate for repetitive depression or anxiety.

Hypnotherapy

Hypnotherapy, as I practise it, is a supportive therapy which I use alongside other approaches where hypnosis can be of help in improving physical and emotional states, and in behavioural change.

It is most effective, I find, in treating anxiety. But I also use it for purposes of thought defusion, relaxation, exploring personal strengths, and visualising solutions.