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Stress

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What is stress?

Stress is our response to situations in our life that we experience as worthy of anxiety. Many aspects of life can cause stress such as financial concerns, work pressures or relationships. When a person is stressed this can interfere with their ability to manage their life and responsibilities which in turn can cause further difficulties and further stress.

 

From a physiological perspective, stress is your body’s way of responding to any demand or threat. When you experience a sense of threat your body releases stress hormones which rouse the body for emergency action. This is known as ‘fight or flight’ response and it is your body’s way of protecting you from dangerous situations. Stress becomes too overwhelming as a result the body not being able to distinguish between daily stressors and life threatening events. Many health problems can be exacerbated by stress.

 

Some of the common symptoms of stress are:

Memory problems

Inability to concentrate

Anxious or racing thoughts

Constant worry

Irritability or short temper

Feeling overwhelmed

Moodiness

Aches and pains

Chest pains

Procrastination or neglecting responsibilities

Nervous habits (e.g. nail biting, pacing)

Treatment for stress/stress management:

Everyone is different in terms of their ability to manage stress. Cognitive behavioural therapy can be very effective in helping you develop more effective stress management strategies including relaxation techniques. Prior to receiving treatment for stress you will have a psychological assessment to help understand the current causes of stress in your life and what factors might be implicated in your difficulties. This will involve developing a psychological formulation that explores your stress responses and aims to break negative cycles that maintain stress.

Intelligence

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Intelligence is what school beat into us by putting certain types of intelligence on a pedestal and ignoring other types. If you are not good at math or language, you might still be gifted at other things but it was not called “intelligence”. Why?

 

In 1983 an American developmental psychologist Howard Gardener described 9 types of intelligence:

 

·       Naturalist (nature smart)

·       Musical (sound smart)

·       Logical-mathematical (number/reasoning smart)

·       Existential (life smart)

·       Interpersonal (people smart)

·       Bodily-kinesthetic (body smart)

·       Linguistic (word smart)

·       Intra-personal (self smart)

·       Spatial (picture smart)

 

What other scientists thought were just soft-skills, such as interpersonal skills, Gardener realized were types of intelligence. It makes sense. Just as being a math whiz gives you the ability to understand the world, so does being “people smart” give you the same ability, just from a different perspective. Not knowing math you may not calculate the rate at which the universe is expanding, but you are likely to have the skills to find the right person who will.

Phobias

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What is a phobia?

A phobia is a debilitating fear of an object, place, situation or animal. Phobias are more intense than fear and involve an unrealistic perception of danger about a situation or object. If a phobia becomes severe a person might organise their life around avoiding the situation or object that causes them anxiety. There are different types of phobia, simple phobias and complex phobias.

 

Some examples of simple phobias are:

Animal phobias – such as rodents, dogs, spiders, birds and others

Bodily phobias – such as blood, vomit or injections

Environmental phobias – such as heights, deep water and germs

Sexual phobias – such as performance anxiety or fear of sexually transmitted diseases

Situational phobias – such as flying or going to the doctor

Some examples of complex phobias are:

Agoraphobia – fear of open spaces, crowded places, traveling or public transport

Social phobia – fear of social situations

 

Treatment for phobias

Phobias can be treated through psychological therapy with cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) based approaches being the most commonly used for effective outcomes.

 

Medication is not usually recommended for phobias though it can be prescribed in the short term to reduce some of the symptoms such as anxiety.

 

The psychologists at our clinic are experienced in the treatment of phobias. If your anxiety is debilitating and interfering with your daily life, then we might recommend a review with our psychologists.

Anxiety

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What is anxiety?

Anxiety is a very common human emotion which comes from an experience that one is in a dangerous situation. In this sense anxiety has evolutionary value as it is an important emotion that alerts to danger and threat in the environment. When individuals suffer from anxiety their experience of fear becomes overgeneralised as they begin to experience that in reality are not threatening to them as posing a significant threat.

 

If you suffer from an anxiety disorder you might find yourself unable to stop worrying and being in a state of heightened stress most of the time. This can become an all consuming experience taking over your life.

 

There are various types of anxiety as listed below:

Generalised anxiety disorder (GAD) – If you suffer from GAD you are likely to feel anxious about most things and in most situations rather than have a specific focus for your worries. This could have an effect on your concentration, sleep and appetite and is likely to be an obstacle to being able to live your life as you would like.

 

Panic disorder – If you suffer from panic disorder you might find yourself experiencing intense panic and this could be in relation to specific situations or more generalised. Over time people who suffer from panic attacks become anxious about experiencing another panic attack so the focus of anxiety becomes the anticipation of anxiety. Panic disorder often involves physical symptoms of anxiety such as palpitations, dizziness, sweating and others.

 

Other forms of anxiety are health anxiety, phobias and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).

 

Treatment for anxiety

In the short term anxiety can be regulated through medication ,but in the long term the most effective treatments for anxiety are psychological and the approaches with the best evidence are cognitive-behavioural therapy, and Psychodynamic Psychotherapy. The emphasis on these treatments is on the individual’s thinking and how this influences their experiences of anxiety, behaviors that might maintain anxiety and the acquisition of new skills.

 

The psychologists at our clinic are highly trained in therapies for the treatment of anxiety and will recommend the most suitable approach for you depending on their assessment of your difficulties.

Depression

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What is depression?

We all go through spells of feeling down but if you are feeling depressed you are likely to be feeling persistently sad for weeks or months, rather than just a few days. Depression is a serious mental health condition, not a sign of weakness or something the individual can just ‘snap out of’. Depression can affect people in different ways and cause a variety of symptoms. Here is a list of some of the symptoms of depression:

•        Continuous low mood or sadness

•        Feeling hopeless or helpless

•        Feeling tearful

•        Feeling guilt-ridden

•        Feeling irritable and intolerant of other people

•        Having no motivation or interest in things

•        Feeling indecisive

•        Not getting enjoyment out of life

•        Feeling anxious or worried

•        Having suicidal thoughts or thoughts of harming yourself

•        Lack of energy or interest in sex

•        Change in appetite

•        Disturbed sleep (sleeping too much or sleeping too little)

This is not an exhaustive list as there are different levels of severity of depression (mild, moderate and severe) as well as different types of depression such as seasonal affective disorder, bipolar disorder, post-natal depression and others.

If you think you are suffering from depression, contact our psychologist to discuss your symptoms.

Treatment for depression:

Psychological therapy has been shown to be most effective for the treatment of depression. Cognitive-behavioural therapy is the most effective therapeutic approaches for the treatment of depression. If you are interested in exploring the underlying causes of your depressive symptoms, Psychodynamic Psychotherapy could also be helpful.

Adult Psychology

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Adulthood 

is a biological, psychological, and sociocultural developmental processes that begin in late adolescence and continue through old age.

 

Our clinical services include provision of psychological assessment, psychological therapy in a range of therapeutic approaches and clinical supervision. Some part of diagnostic and therapeutic areas, you might be interested to read:

 

Addictions

Anorexia

Anxiety

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHAD)

Autism

Bereavement

Binge Eating Disorder

Bipolar Disorder

Body Dysmorphic Disorder

Depression

Eating Disorders

Generalised Anxiety Disorder

Health Anxiety

Obsessive-complulsive Disorder

Panic Disorder

Personality Disorders

Phobias

Post Natal Depression

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

Psychosexual Issues

Relationship Difficulties

Self Harm

Sleep Disorders

Social Anxiety

Stress

Substance Misuse

 

The therapeutic approaches that are psychologists are experienced in are:

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)

Hypnotherapy

Psychodrama

Psychodynamic Psychotherapy

Neurotic Disorders

Family Therapy

 

Our psychologists can also offer clinical supervision to other professionals including other psychologists. If you would like to enquire about clinical supervision, please contact us.

 

 

Child Psychology

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Child psychology is a branch of psychology concerned with the systematic study of the behavior, adjustment, and growth of individuals from birth through adolescence, as well as with the treatment of their behavioral, mental, and emotional disorders.

Our Clinical Psychologists working with children, young people and their families have specialist training to help young people and their families understand and manage a broad range of mental health difficulties.
Through a comprehensive assessment, spending time talking to you and your child, the psychologist will work to understand the problem, what might be contributing to the difficulties and think with you about the most appropriate package of support. This support may involve individual sessions with your child, sessions with the whole family, and/or working in collaboration with schools and other services in your child’s network.
In addition, our therapists can also provide school observations, home visits, or specialist cognitive assessments as part of a larger assessment process. Due to their specialist training, our Child Psychologists are able to draw on a range of therapeutic models such as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, and Psychodynamic Therapy, whilst incorporating creativity in the therapeutic process.
We offer support to children, young people and their families for a range of difficulties including:

Low mood
Anxiety and Panic
Stress
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
Behavioural difficulties
Difficulties relating to Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder(ADHD)
Difficulties relating to Autism Spectrum Disorder
Family and relationship difficulties

 

Mental health

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Mental health is a state of mind characterized by emotional well-being, good behavioral adjustment, relative freedom from anxiety and disabling symptoms, and a capacity to establish constructive relationships and cope with the ordinary demands and stresses of life.

Also the state of being free from illness and distress but, more important, of being filled with vitality and functioning well in one’s personal and social life.

Mental health can be considered as a broad concept although there are no absolutes and there is considerable cultural variation, some flexible psychological and behavioral criteria can be suggested: (a) freedom from incapacitating internal conflicts; (b) the capacity to think and act in an organized and reasonably effective manner; (c) the ability to cope with the ordinary demands and problems of life; (d) freedom from extreme emotional distress, such as anxiety, despondency, and persistent upset; and (e) the absence of clear-cut symptoms of mental disorder, such as obsessions, phobias, confusion, and disorientation.

Family therapy

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Family therapy is a form of psychotherapy that focuses on the improvement of interfamilial relationships and behavioral patterns of the family unit as a whole, as well as among individual members and groupings, or subsystems, within the family. Family therapy includes a large number of treatment forms with diverse conceptual principles, processes and structures, and clinical foci. Some family therapy approaches (e.g., object relations theory) reflect extensions of models of psychotherapy with individuals in the interpersonal realm, whereas others (e.g., structural family therapy) evolved in less traditional contexts. Most approaches emphasize contexts in which clinical problems arise. This accompanying systemic view potentially allows clinical attention to all levels of the organization of behavior, from the individual, to the family, and to the community. Family therapy models vary enormously in terms of length, past versus present orientation, techniques used, and treatment goals. See also conjoint therapy; couple therapy; family group psychotherapy; family systems theory.