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Why people seek counselling & psychotherapy
There are two main reasons that people seek therapy: getting fed up with things that have been going on for a long time, or hitting a crisis – sometimes it’s a combination of the two.
We all have our ways of coping with what life throws at us, and we all need to find meaning and a sense of purpose in our lives. When the old ways no longer work, or we lose our sense of meaning or connectedness, then that can be very difficult. Often this is a shock, if we are used to being able to cope. It can be a real blow to our self-esteem to find that we are not able to sort things out, or make ourselves feel any better. Asking for help can seem like the last resort. However, most people do find that it is a great relief to share how things are going, or how they are feeling. Therapy can then be useful in helping to make sense of what is happening.
Some people tend to minimise their own problems, but everyone is unique, so whatever is troubling you is considered important in therapy. We all deserve extra help at times.
Individual therapy with Ruth Calland
Therapy is extra help with the way you are already coping with your problems and issues. It is about looking at the way you think and feel about things, with the support of someone who is trying to understand your point of view. In addition, a therapist can offer new ways of thinking about your issues. My own way of doing this often involves making connections between things, that you might not have seen as connected before. Because there is somebody supporting you, it can become more possible to let out feelings that you may have been bottling up – or not even have known were there. This can help, because the energy that it takes to keep a lid on things can then be put to better use. It can be a journey of self-discovery, and this can be exciting. It can also be worrying, cause anxiety, and be challenging. Therefore it’s important that you feel able to choose what you want to bring up, and the pace we go at.
Therapy begins with a consultation. This is for you to let me know why you’re looking for therapy, and what you’re hoping to get out of it. If you don’t know what the problem is, eg you just feel low and don’t understand why, then that’s fine too. We can think about what therapy might be like for you, and what sort of area to focus on initially. It also gives you a chance to ask any questions that you want to about therapy and about my practice.
If we decide to proceed, then a weekly time will be set aside for you. The sessions are 50 minutes long, although the initial consultation can be up to an hour.
About Ruth Calland
I have been a therapist for 17 years, and started off by working as a volunteer counsellor for Relate. In 1996 I was awarded the Relate Certificate in Couple Counselling (theory and practice).
I worked with teenagers for six years, when I ran a counselling service in a VIth Form College in Newham, London. There I experienced working with people from many different cultures, including refugees.
In 1999 I set up a counselling service for unemployed people, and ran this until 2002. More recently I have also worked as a counsellor in two GP surgeries, receiving referrals directly from the GPs.
In 2002 I was accredited by the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy, and accepted onto the United Kingdom Register of Counsellors.
In 2004 I graduated in an MSc in the Psychodynamics of Human Development (Jungian stream) from the British Association of Psychotherapists and Birkbeck College. As part of this course I undertook a 2 year infant observation with written paper.
I also run Connect, an assessment and referral service for people in East London. Connect helps people consider whether therapy is right for them, and referrals are made directly to a wide range of qualified and experienced therapists.
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What kind of therapy?
There are many labels that therapists use to describe what they do and the methods that they use. You may know something about this already. Two of the main headings are ‘Humanistic’ and ‘Psychodynamic’. The humanistic approach is about facilitating a process of self-discovery and growth. It sees people as having an innate potential for this, and aims to help people in their own journey.
Psychodynamics is about understanding how we relate to each other and the world, not just on the conscious level but on the unconscious level as well. In psychodynamic therapy, feelings hidden deep inside us are believed to influence how we behave, and how we relate to ourselves and to others. Quite often, some of these ways can get ‘played out’ in the therapy. This type of transference can be used to help explore what normally goes on for a person in their relationships. Once such things are brought into consciousness, they tend to lose some of their grip, and it can become more possible for change to take place.
So to conclude: I offer a combination of humanistic and psychodynamic perspectives. I see it as a partnership; you bring your knowledge and experience of what it is like to be you, and I offer a way of seeing patterns and connections, which might help you. Sometimes it can be useful to think about dreams, or other images which come to mind; some people find it helpful to make an image on paper, so I have drawing materials available for this.
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Prices
£30- 50 Individual
£65 Couples
£50 Assessment
Please feel free to contact me with any questions.
Counsellor Walthamstow
Counselling Walthamstow
Psychotherapy Walthamstow
Psychotherapist Walthamstow |
