Counselling and psychotherapy in Manchester

I offer a variety of therapies in two venues in Manchester.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)

CBT works on the idea that the way you think influences your feelings and behaviours. It aims to help you identify any negative patterns that are keeping you stuck, and helps you find more healthy alternatives.

Some of the presenting difficulties that CBT helps to address are: general anxiety, panic attacks, depression, anger, chronic fatigue, post traumatic stress disorder etc.

Dialectical Behavioural Therapy (DBT)

The term "dialectical" means a synthesis or integration of opposites. The primary dialectic within DBT is between the seemingly opposite strategies of acceptance and change. For example, you can learn to accept yourself as you are now, with all your strengths and difficulties, and also understand that you may have to change certain things in your life to break free from self-destructive or self-sabotaging behaviours.

What I like about DBT is the honesty it brings to the table. It helps in reducing self-denial and allows you to take back control of your life. It is hard work but worth it. So when you step in my therapy room, I take it that you want to work, and that you're willing to try and invest in yourself, both mentally and emotionally. Please don’t suffer in silence. Set yourself free today by taking the first step. Choose life.

DBT is designed to help people suffering from mood disorders, as well as those who need to change patterns of behaviour that are not helpful, such as self-harm, suicidal ideation, and substance abuse.

I work with clients with personality disorders, mood related disorders, anxiety etc. DBT is also an effective treatment for interpersonal difficulties, trauma and emotional instability.

Group counselling

I run open groups, each session lasting for 1.5 hours. I don’t have a crisis team and I don’t offer out of hours services, so it's important to manage any risk through your GP or your psychiatrist. I strongly recommend this is in place before the start of treatment.

The group is an open group, placed to help clients who may be waiting a long time for treatment. To enhance your experience, there are no more than six clients in a group. Currently, this group runs on Friday mornings between 09:00 – 10:30 hours.

Groups work with an agenda in which each session has a topic for discussion. The key topics are distress tolerance, emotional regulation, mindfulness and interpersonal effectiveness. We'll review the skills that you have been practising since last session: what's gone well? what hasn’t? We pick up learning points to help consolidate the skills introduced. I try to keep each review brief, to give us more time for the day's topic to be covered thoroughly.

I run the skills group only in my central Manchester office due to the suitability of the rooms. It is a warm and pleasant atmosphere.

I believe in living life by life’s terms but it doesn’t have to be overbearing all the time. The purpose of the group is teach you skills to help you cope in a safe and healthy way with emotional distress or whatever life throws at you, for example job loss, bereavement, depression, severe anxiety, or trauma.

Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocess (EMDR)

This is an integrative counselling/psychotherapy approach that has been well researched. EMDR therapy is applicable for a wide range of psychological problems. EMDR is recommended by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) for trauma, past or more recent – things like road traffic accidents (RTA), sudden death, sudden loss of independence, adjustment difficulties, disassociation, and trauma that contributes to anorexia etc.

A session can take up to 1.5 hours; some clients come for fifty minutes.

Hypnotherapy

Hypnotherapy helps clients to work with their unconscious mind. It helps you process deeper difficulties. I use this treatment to help with confidence, stopping smoking, Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) and separation anxiety.

Person-centred Counselling

This kind of counselling helps with the exploration of feelings. I use warmth and empathy to help process your difficulties. This helps you to come to your own self-understanding. The session is for 50 minutes.

How many sessions?

If your problems are mild you will probably require up to 6 sessions. In a six session treatment, we will have a review in our 3rd session to discuss what has gone well, what is left and how we can address the remaining difficulties.

For a moderate to severe presentation you may need 6 – 12 sessions. If your difficulties are moderate to severe, we normally review after every 6 sessions. This applies to all my treatment. Sometimes, for severe problems, you may require up to 24 sessions.

You can see more about my qualifications, Code of Ethics etc. on my About Me page.

Help for a wide variety of conditions or difficulties:

Can I help?

You can contact me easily, and I'm happy to discuss whether counselling is suitable for you, or to make a first appointment. Email me on ( ) or call me on 07999769617. You can see further information about where I practice, fees etc, on my Practicalities page. I look forward to hearing from you.

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