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What is Rewind trauma therapy?

Rewind Trauma Therapy (RTT) quickly and effectively processes traumatic memories without requiring in-depth discussion. It helps remove intense emotions from memories, preventing them from triggering traumatic responses.

Rewind Therapy, also known as the Rewind Technique, is used to help individuals overcome the effects of trauma, PTSD, phobias, and anxiety.

Trauma can significantly impact daily life, regardless of whether it occurred four weeks ago or 20 years ago, and whether it was a single event or ongoing events or experiences.

Trauma can cause depression and anxiety; it can shape the way we think and feel, make us angry, anxious, sad, confused, and stressed, and lead us to avoid certain situations. It can increase our reliance on unhelpful coping mechanisms. Additionally, trauma can significantly impact our relationships, including those with family and friends.

Using the Rewind Trauma Therapy technique, we will work specifically on your trauma in the safety of the therapy room. The aim is to reduce the effects of the trauma, helping with PTSD, flashbacks, nightmares, anxiety, and panic attacks.

How Rewind Therapy works:

  1. Relaxation and Safety: The therapist helps the client reach a relaxed state, often using guided relaxation or light hypnosis, to make them feel safe and secure.
  2. Mental “Rewinding”: The individual is then asked to visualise the traumatic event, but they do so from a dissociated perspective. Instead of reliving the event from their own perspective, they visualise it as if watching a movie or from a third-person view.
  3. Desensitisation: During the visualisation, the therapist guides the person to “rewind” the memory, playing it backwards in their mind and then “fast-forwarding” it again, repeatedly. This process is designed to change the emotional connection to the traumatic memory, gradually reducing the distress it causes.
  4. Integration: After the repeated visualisation and desensitisation, the therapist may bring the person back to the present, helping them integrate this new, less-disturbing version of the memory into their psyche.

Benefits of Rewind Therapy:

Non-intrusive: RTT differs from other trauma therapies by respecting your boundaries and not requiring a detailed recounting of trauma. This approach is more accessible and less distressing, offering comfort and reassurance to many individuals.

Quick: RTT is a relatively short therapy, sometimes requiring only a few sessions. This quick turnaround can bring a sense of hope and optimism, knowing that relief from trauma can be achieved in a short span of time.

Effective for trauma: Research and anecdotal evidence strongly suggest that RTT can be effective in reducing PTSD symptoms, flashbacks, nightmares, and anxiety. However, its effectiveness can vary based on the individual and the specific nature of their trauma.

It’s important to note that while many find it beneficial, it may not work for everyone, and there are no guarantees of complete resolution of trauma-related issues.

If you are interested in Rewind Therapy, please contact me for more information or to book a session.

The benefits of journalling for mental health

Journalling is a straightforward tool and one that is often overlooked as part of a self-care toolbox. Many of us live with severe anxiety and stress, and writing down our thoughts can have profound benefits for mental health.

A safe space for expression

One of the most significant benefits of journalling is that it provides a safe and private space to express your thoughts and emotions without fearing other’s judgement.

Many people struggle to articulate their feelings verbally or feel uncomfortable sharing their innermost thoughts. A journal is a personal sanctuary where you can pour out everything that is playing on your mind. This expression of thought can be incredibly liberating, helping to unburden the mind and alleviate emotional stress.

Clarifying thoughts and feelings

Our minds often feel like a tangled web of thoughts and emotions, especially during stressful times. Journalling helps to untangle this web by allowing you to organise your thoughts.

By writing down your feelings, you can clarify what’s truly bothering you, identify patterns in your thinking, and begin to recognise triggers contributing to your stress or anxiety. This self-awareness is the first step toward addressing mental health challenges.

Managing stress and anxiety

Writing about stressful experiences can reduce the intensity of those emotions – much like talking about them can. This process, known as expressive writing, can help to lower cortisol levels, the hormone associated with stress.

By confronting and exploring stressful events through journalling, you can lessen their emotional impact over time. Moreover, journalling can serve as a coping mechanism, providing a constructive outlet for processing difficult emotions instead of internalising or avoiding them.

Enhancing emotional intelligence

Journalling can also boost your emotional intelligence. Giving you a better ability to recognise, understand, and manage your emotions. As you regularly document your experiences and feelings, you become more attuned to your emotional responses and better equipped to handle them. This heightened self-awareness can improve relationships, decision-making, and overall emotional resilience.

Tracking personal growth

A journal can also be a brilliant tool for tracking personal growth and progress. You create a mental and emotional journey timeline by consistently recording your thoughts, feelings, and experiences. Looking back on past entries can offer valuable insights into how far you’ve come, highlight recurring challenges, and reveal the strategies that have been most effective in managing your mental health. Having this sense of progress can be motivating and affirming.

Promoting mindfulness

Journalling encourages mindfulness, the practice of being present and fully engaged with the current moment. When you write, you focus on your inner world, tuning out external distractions. This mindful practice can help calm the mind, reduce anxiety, and promote peace. Over time, journaling can help you create a more conscious approach to life, helping you to become more aware of your thoughts, emotions, and reactions.

Problem-solving and creativity

Writing about challenges and obstacles can also enhance problem-solving skills and creativity. With journalling, you talk with yourself, exploring different perspectives and possibilities. This process can help you think outside the box, generate new ideas, and develop solutions to problems that may have seemed insurmountable before.

Helping to process trauma and healing

If you have experienced trauma, journaling can be a powerful tool for healing. Trauma can leave a lasting impact on mental health, and processing it can be challenging. Journaling provides a private space to explore traumatic experiences at your own pace, helping you to make sense of what happened and integrate those experiences into your broader life story. This process can be incredibly therapeutic, aiding in the emotional processing and healing necessary to move forward.

Improving sleep quality

Stress and anxiety can affect our sleep. Journalling before bed, mainly writing about your worries or to-do lists, can help clear your mind, making it easier to fall asleep. By offloading your thoughts onto paper, you can reduce the mental chatter that often keeps you awake at night, leading to better sleep quality and overall mental well-being.

How to get started

So, how do we start practising good journaling? If you’re new to journaling, filling blank pages with your thoughts might feel daunting. But please remember, there are no rules for journaling. It’s a personal practice, and what matters most is that it feels helpful and authentic to you.

Here are a few tips to help you get started:

1. Start small: Begin with just a few minutes a day. You don’t need to write pages and pages; a few sentences can be beneficial.

2 Be honest: Write freely without worrying about grammar, spelling, or what others might think. A journal is your space to be completely honest with yourself.

3. Use prompts: If you’re unsure what to write about, try using prompts such as “Today I feel…”, “What’s been on my mind lately is…” or “One thing I’m grateful for is…”.

4. Make it a Habit: Try to journal regularly, whether daily, weekly, or whenever you need. Consistency can help you reap the most benefits.

Please contact me if you’re interesting in sessions or with any questions about journalling.

Email therapy

Email therapy provides a powerful and accessible method for clients to articulate their emotions and thoughts in a non-judgmental environment.

Through asynchronous communication via email, clients can express their feelings, problems, and concerns in a way that might work better for them. For some, this approach fosters greater freedom and openness than traditional verbal communication, creating a space for meaningful self-expression and introspection.

In practical terms, email therapy involves a weekly exchange of emails between the client and therapist, with both parties committing to crafting thoughtful and reflective responses similar to a standard therapy session. Agreed response times and a dedication to confidentiality through secure communication platforms (like Protonmail) are integral to this setup.

Many individuals find that writing about their thoughts and feelings is a therapeutic process that contributes to profound self-awareness and offers insight into personal experiences. Email therapy is especially helpful for those who prefer expressing themselves in writing and value enhanced privacy and confidentiality. Additionally, the permanent record of email exchanges allows clients to further reflect on their feelings and the therapist’s responses.

How does it work?

Once a week, you email me, and I write back. This exchange of confidential emails allows you to explore how you feel with a qualified therapist through written words.

We each send a maximum of 500 words once a week. I will spend the same time writing to you as I would if we were meeting for a 50-minute session. And I ask that you give your writing the same amount of time.

We will agree to respond to each other by a specific time and day of the week, so you’ll always know when to expect to hear from me next. As the time delay is an essential therapeutic difference with email counselling, I take three working days to reflect, ponder and draft my reply. This allows me to thoroughly consider your thoughts and words as you wait for my answer.

The email therapy sessions can conducted through an email platform of your choice. I will use ProtonMail and recommend you consider signing up for their free account to ensure all emails are encrypted.

If you do decide to try email counselling, you can try these tips: 

  • Agree with your therapist on a time and day of the week to respond to each other
  • Limit your emails to 500 words 
  • Use emojis, fonts or colours to help express yourself 
  • Ensure you are in a private and safe space to write in

Why I like offering email therapy

I enjoy finding the right words to help us understand ourselves. Writing is absorbing and enlightening. As a person-centred therapist, the relationship we develop is critical to change and growth.

As I read your words, I will aim to understand who you are and what support you seek. For the ‘therapeutic hour’, I am with you. I will be in your frame of reference, working to see what you may not see to understand yourself better. A weekly therapeutic email exchange is an effective way to connect, be understood, find the answers that work for you and thrive.

However, email therapy may not suit everyone. Some individuals prefer the immediacy of spoken conversation or find it challenging to express themselves accurately through writing. Despite these considerations, for those who resonate with this mode of therapy, it can be an effective means of exploring feelings and thoughts, benefiting from the therapeutic process in a flexible and introspective manner.

If you are interested in email therapy, please get in touch with me for more information.

A quick stretch to ease stress

I understand how difficult it can be to cope with the relentless presence of stress in our lives. It often leaves us feeling overwhelmed and exhausted. This relentless cycle of stress triggers the release of cortisol, commonly known as the stress hormone, which floods our bodies and minds with tension.

When present in small amounts, stress can be beneficial, helping us stay alert and focused. However, when its levels remain consistently high over an extended period, it can wreak havoc on our bodies and minds.

Elevated cortisol levels can potentially impair cognitive function, weaken the immune system, and contribute to the development of chronic health problems, chronic health issues. It’s a delicate balance that can tip into harmful territory if we’re not careful.

What might help?

The first step to breaking the stress cycle is recognising when we are in it. Please see my stress cup post for a visual idea of stress. Mindfulness and self-awareness can help us identify the triggers that set off our stress responses.

Practising deep breathing techniques, engaging in physical activity, and meditation can all help lower cortisol levels.

One effective way to release the unease is through somatic stretching — gentle, intentional, and active movement. The key to melting away stress and tension is to allow your brain (intention) to help release cortisol from your body (movement).

Try a supine spinal twist:

  • Lie on your back with your legs flat. Then, bring your arms out to your sides with your palms facing down so your body is in a T position.
  • You should breathe deeply and smoothly throughout this pose. Do not hold your breath.
  • Bend your right knee so it points upward.
  • Then, slowly drop your right knee over to the left side of your body, twisting your spine and lower back. Turn your head toward your left fingertips. Hold the position for 20 seconds or more, and breath for five to 10 breaths.
  • Carefully bring your knee back to the centre and release your hips to the floor. Then repeat with the other side. Be intentional and gentle, and breathe through the movement.

Please contact me if you need support with prolonged stress and/or anxiety.

How to listen to your body

When we pause to listen, we’ll find that our bodies are constantly communicating with us. Consider a churning stomach before a vital work meeting, or sweaty palms when going on a first date.

Understanding our nervous system

Our nervous system acts as a sensitive bridge, connecting the physical sensations within our bodies to our emotional experiences. It plays a crucial role in recognising and responding to indicators of safety or threat. Through its complex network, it interprets various signals and cues, prompting appropriate reactions that affect our overall well-being. This intricate system ensures that we are continually attuned to our environment and internal states, allowing for a complex interplay between our bodies and emotions.

Somatic therapy

Somatic therapy is an approach that focuses on fostering an understanding and relationship with our body in addition to our thoughts. This form of therapy emphasises the importance of both the mind and body working together to address and heal any damage that might have been inflicted upon our nervous system.

A key aspect of somatic therapy involves paying attention to and gently caring for the various signals our body sends us, facilitating a holistic healing process.

Somatic interventions

In my experience working with clients, I often suggest incorporating body-based approaches while discussing difficult thoughts and feelings. It’s essential to take breaks during our discussions to ‘check in’ with the body and pay attention to its responses.

By being mindful of changes in breath, body temperature, posture, and muscle tension, we can better understand the body’s distress signals and moments of safety. This practice allows for a deeper connection between our emotional experiences and bodily sensations. Fostering a more holistic healing process that addresses both the mind and body for overall wellbeing. By occasionally checking in with the body as we reflect on difficult experiences, we can become more attuned to its signals of distress and safety.

Observing changes in breath, body temperature, posture, and muscle tension allows us to develop a deeper understanding of the body’s role in our emotional experiences.

How can somatic therapy help?

During frightening or dangerous situations, our body’s defense system kicks into gear. This reaction is completely natural and pivotal for our survival, escape, or endurance through such events. However, when trauma is continuous or so overwhelming that it exceeds the capacity of our defense mechanisms, the system fails to deactivate as it’s supposed to. This malfunction can lead to the stress becoming lodged in our bodies. Consequently, we might suffer from anxiety, tension, stress, insomnia, and various other distressing symptoms.

Using body-based approaches like breath work, grounding, and relaxation techniques can help you reconnect with your body. Managing stress and anxiety more effectively.

By tuning into physical sensations and practicing calming techniques, you can create a path to healing. Allowing your nervous system to shift from a state of heightened alertness to a state of relaxation and safety. This not only helps alleviate trauma and stress symptoms. It also enhances overall wellbeing by fostering harmony between the mind and body.

Please contact me to find out more about how I work.

How to prepare for starting therapy 

Preparing for your first counselling or psychotherapy session can help you feel more at ease and help you to make the most of the experience.

You may feel nervous or unsure of what to talk about. Or you might have lots to talk about – but you might not know where to start.

Here are some steps you can take:

  1. Identify your goals: Think about what you hope to achieve from therapy. Do you want to address specific issues, gain new coping strategies, or simply have a space to explore and talk? How do you want to feel at the end of therapy?
  2. Gather relevant information: Consider any important personal history, such as past experiences with mental health, significant life events, or medical history that might be relevant to your current situation.
  3. Past therapy: Have you had therapy in the past? Was this good or bad, was it useful? Is there anything you would you like to be different?
  4. Reflect on your feelings: Spend some time thinking about your current emotional state. What feelings or thoughts are most prominent for you right now? Do you know where you feel these in your body?
  5. Write down questions: Make a list of questions you have for your therapist. These might include questions about their approach, confidentiality, or what to expect in future sessions.
  6. Consider practical details: Make sure you know the logistics of your appointment, such as the time, location (or online meeting details), and how to contact the therapist if needed. If it’s online will they send a link, if it’s face to face, are you clear on the directions and address?
  7. Relax and be open: Remember that the therapist is there to help you in a non-judgemental way. It’s normal to feel nervous, but try to be open and honest about your thoughts and feelings. If you have trouble articulating your feelings, your therapist will be able to help with that.
  8. Self-care beforehand: Engage in a relaxing activity before your session to help calm any nerves. This might include deep breathing, a walk, or listening to soothing music.

By taking these steps, you can hopefully enter your first therapy session with a clearer sense of purpose and a little bit more confidence.

Please contact me if you have any question or would like to book in a free 30 minute call.

What is person-centred therapy?

Have you heard of therapy or counselling. But you’re not quite sure what it is or whether it could be helpful to you? There is a lot of ‘therapy talk’ going around currently, and you might have seen persistent advertising from Better Help. But you still might be wondering what it means to go to therapy and talk to a therapist regularly. 

As a person-centred therapist, I hope to explain how I see therapy and hopefully answer some of your questions. 

Counselling and psychotherapy involve talking honestly through your thoughts, feelings, and behaviours with a trained professional in a safe and confidential space. Working with a person-centred therapist means that you won’t be told what to do, think or feel. You are in control and you know yourself, probably better than you think. A therapist will guide and challenge you, when necessary. They will actively listen in a way that friends and family don’t. 

Therapy can help you to gain insight into yourself, your relationships, and your life experiences. Whether you’re struggling with anxiety, depression, relationship issues. Or just feeling stuck in life, therapy can provide a supportive environment to explore and work through these challenges at a pace that works for you. 

It’s not a quick fix; no therapist can promise that you’ll have a few sessions and suddenly, all your problems will disappear. Talking through difficult experiences, coping mechanisms and feelings often takes time. You build trust with a therapist and a working relationship and together you work on the things that matter to you. You work at a pace that feels right for you, which can vary depending on what’s happening and whether you work online or face-to-face.

So how does it work?

When you start working with a therapist, in person-centred theory – we might say that you are in a state of ‘incongruence’. This could mean that you’re not feeling yourself; you may be anxious, depressed or grieving. It may simply be that something in your life just isn’t how you’d like it to be or that you have a particular problem at work or within a relationship you want to work on.

You can spend your short-term or longer-term sessions working through things with your therapist. Using sessions to offload, process and work through things emotionally and practically. You can talk and if you’re feeling stressed and overwhelmed – work through somatic exercises, or we can get the paints and modelling clay out when the words won’t come out or the feelings feel blocked and out of reach. 

Your therapist is there to listen, not to judge, and to support you. After some time, you will hopefully reach a state of ‘congruence’ – feeling better and more aligned with the different areas of your life and the different parts of you. Congruence is a healthy state of being and enables people to progress towards living life genuinely and authentically.

How long does counselling and psychotherapy last?

Counselling is likely to last a number of weeks or months and work in the present. Psychotherapy is likely to be open ended and last a number of months or years. This is because counselling might help to address a current difficulty whereas psychotherapy might address difficulties rooted in the past.

So now you know what therapy is, what next?

If you’re unsure whether therapy is right for you, that’s okay; having questions and concerns is entirely normal. But if you think you could benefit from talking, I encourage you to reach out and give it a try. Therapy can be a powerful tool for growth and healing from trauma experiences. I’m here to support you every step of the way.

Please contact me

How to do a body scan

I’ve found somatic work helpful when working with clients who have experienced domestic abuse or trauma or for clients experiencing extreme stress. A body scan meditation is one of my favourite exercises, which I use every night before going to sleep. 

A body scan is a mindfulness practice that involves bringing attention to different body parts, typically starting from the toes and moving upward to the head or vice versa. It’s often used as a relaxation technique to help reduce stress and increase awareness of our physical sensations. 

Here’s a simple guide on how to do a body scan:

1. Find a comfortable position: Sit or lie down in a relaxed position. You can do this practice either with your eyes closed or open.

2. Relax: Take a few big deep breaths to relax your body and mind. Allow any tension or stress to melt away with each exhale.

3. Start from the toes: Begin by bringing your attention to your toes. Notice any sensations you may feel in this area, such as warmth, tingling, or tension. You don’t need to change anything. Just observe.

4. Move upward: Slowly move your attention upward, focusing on each part of your body one at a time. Progress from your feet to your ankles, calves, knees, thighs, hips, abdomen, chest, back, shoulders, arms, hands, neck, and head.

5. Can you notice any sensation in your face, is your jaw tight, are you frowning? Are you gritting your teeth? Can you soften any tightness?

6. Notice sensations: Pay attention to any sensations you may feel as you focus on each body part. This could include warmth, coolness, tension, relaxation, tingling, or numbness. Try to observe these sensations without judgment, simply acknowledging them as they are.

7. Stay present: If your mind starts to wander or you become distracted, gently bring your focus back to the present moment and the sensations in your body.

8. Finish with the whole body: Once you’ve scanned each part of your body, take a moment to bring your attention to your body as a whole. Notice how it feels overall, any areas of tension or relaxation, and how your breath moves through your body.

9. End with gratitude: When you’re ready to finish your body scan, take a moment to thank yourself for taking the time to practice mindfulness.

You can adjust the length and pace of your body scan to suit your preferences and available time. It’s a practice that can be done anywhere and anytime to help with grounding, relaxation and self-awareness.

Moving on after domestic abuse

I’ve had the privilege of working with many clients who have experienced domestic abuse. A common question is when I will heal, or will I ever be able to move on? 

Recovering from the trauma of being abused by someone you once loved and trusted is a long process, and it may take months and even years for you to heal. 

You are likely to experience grief and a range of difficult emotions, which might include a deep sense of loss. Your trust has been betrayed, and your self-esteem and confidence have been shattered. 

Domestic abuse can impact your mental health. It can lead to depression and anxiety, or it can make these worse. This can affect your mood, sleep, and appetite and can make you withdraw from doing the activities you enjoy, decrease your motivation or, in more severe cases, make you have suicidal thoughts or self-harm. 

How might therapy help? 

Therapy can be incredibly beneficial if you  have experienced domestic abuse in several ways:

Emotional support

A therapist provides a safe and non-judgmental space for you to express your feelings and emotions related to your experiences of abuse. They can offer empathy, validation, and support as you navigate the complex emotions that may arise.

Trauma processing

Domestic abuse can result in significant psychological trauma, including symptoms such as anxiety, depression, flashbacks, and nightmares. Somatic exercises and talking therapy can help can help you process and cope with trauma-related symptoms.

Rebuilding self-esteem

Abuse often leaves survivors feeling worthless, ashamed, and lacking in self-confidence. Therapy can help you rebuild your self-esteem and self-worth by challenging negative beliefs about yourself and developing a more compassionate and positive self-view.

Developing coping strategies

Therapy can equip you with practical coping strategies and skills to manage distressing emotions, triggers, and situations that may arise as you navigate life after abuse.

Setting boundaries

Many survivors of domestic abuse struggle with establishing and maintaining healthy boundaries in relationships. Therapy can help you identify your boundaries, assert your needs and preferences, and develop assertiveness skills to communicate effectively with others.

Identifying patterns

Therapy can help you recognise patterns of behaviour or thought that may have contributed to or perpetuated the abusive dynamics in your past relationship. By gaining insight into these patterns, you can work towards making healthier choices in your future relationships.

Tailored support

Overall, therapy offers a holistic approach to healing from domestic abuse by addressing the emotional and psychological aspects of your experiences. 

A skilled therapist will tailor their approach to meet your specific needs and goals, providing personalised support as you embark on your journey towards healing and empowerment.

My emails are always open if you have questions or need signposting to support.

Compassion is the antidote to self-hatred  

What is self compassion and how can we be kinder to ourselves?

Self-compassion is a rare and wonderful thing that’s difficult for many of us. Many can extend kindness and compassion to others but cannot turn it inward towards themselves. 

A compassionate inner voice can drown out a nagging, critical inner voice. I have a super loud and mean inner critic, and I call her Sharon. She’s horrible; she puts me down, shouts at me, and makes me doubt my self-worth.

More recently, Trish has entered the scene. She’s lovely. She tells me I’m doing okay, will make a good therapist, and am worthy of love. She’s kind to me. 

Many of us have a Sharon, but not many have a Trish. When we talk to ourselves harshly or shout if we mess up, the self-image we carry becomes the story we are telling ourselves. It’s often not true. 

Childhood experiences can sadly lead to feelings of not being good enough, affecting our self-esteem and creating a strong inner critic. 

I always return to a quote from Susan Jeffers when I know I need to give myself a break. She said, “You are good enough exactly as you are, and who you are is a powerful and loving human being who is learning and growing every step of the way.”

What is self-compassion?

Self-compassion is being warm and understanding towards ourselves when we make mistakes or doubt ourselves. This links back to knowing our emotions rather than ignoring our pain or berating ourselves.

Self-compassionate people recognise that not being perfect and experiencing difficulties in life is inevitable. They listen to their emotions, which point towards what they need. They don’t shout at themselves; they soothe and comfort themselves. 

How to be more tender towards yourself

When I need to be kinder towards myself, I think of little me. I remember little me struggling at primary school and copying a friend’s spelling test because she couldn’t spell some of the bigger words. She got in trouble, and my friend didn’t speak to her for weeks. 

When I think of this, I want to hug my younger self. That was all I knew to do then, and I made a mistake because I was struggling (if only I knew then that I was dyslexic). I don’t want to shout and scold little me; I want to soothe her and tell her everything will be okay. I want to show her kindness and take care of her.

Just imagine how it feels to be supportive and tender towards ourselves. It can feel good if we do it once or twice. Developing self-compassion and self-love as a habit can be transformative. 

Book recommendations:

Self-compassion, for me, is still sometimes a struggle. Sharon’s voice is quieter, but she can still pop up when I make mistakes. I’ve found the books listed below helpful. 

  • Kirsten Neff’s book on Self-compassion is an excellent place to start. 
  • For Women, read her follow-up. Fierce Self-Compassion.
  • Louise Hay is also a brilliant writer on this topic. The Power Within talks about our inner voice and reprogramming old ways of thinking about ourselves. 
  • If you like to write, I’d also recommend The Mindful Self-Compassion Workbook; it includes medications and exercises on how to be a better friend to ourselves. 

Please contact me with any questions about how therapy might help you to find your self compassion.