Therapies
MY APPROACH TO THERAPY
First and foremost, I want you to be reassured that I offer you a completely safe, non-judgmental and supportive place to sort out your problems. You can confide in me, tell me anything about your deepest fears, anxieties, depression, lack of confidence, or about any self-destructive thoughts and behaviours, knowing that I will never judge you and will be there to support you along the way towards the future that you want.
As well as the using the training, skills and experience that I already have, I am always looking for new ideas to bring into my therapy practice. My passion is therapy; I love what I do and love seeing my clients lose feelings of anxiety and turmoil and regain contentment, happiness and confidence. I use my spare time to further my expertise.
I believe in an holistic, integrative approach to therapy – I very much want to understand your needs and wants as an individual – I have many learned resources but believe that there is not one form of therapy that suits everyone, so I tailor my approach to our work together according to what will best suit you as an individual.
COUNSELLING
I have run a busy counselling/therapy practice for the last 16 years and believe that great therapeutic change can be effected by being able to talk through your problems with an empathetic and experienced professional, even without the practical interventions of hypnosis or CBT. Many of my clients choose to see me for talking therapy alone.
However, I also offer both Cognitive Hypnotherapy and CBT, which are highly effective methods to achieve fast, positive change.
CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy)
Cognitive behavioural techniques are extremely effective to use alongside counselling, and/or hypnotherapy. We will look in detail at how your unhelpful thoughts and behaviours and possibly any physical symptoms brought on or exacerbated by stress or negative emotions, are having a negative effect on your daily life.
Using CBT methodology, together we will work out a practical approach to challenge and change these unwanted thoughts, behaviours or physical symptoms (IBS, stomach problems, headaches and skin problems are amongst many other physical complaints linked to stress that can be helped with therapy).
After working out with you a strategy for change, I will then ask you to practice these changes in your daily life. By taking the time to repeatedly and consistently challenge the unwanted thoughts, behaviours and feelings that have become automatic and ‘normal’ to you, in time, your brain will adjust and adapt and learn to think in the more positive, healthy way that you want. With practice and support from me, you will retrain your brain to learn the new skill of thinking and behaving positively.
It is much the same as learning a new language or learning to drive a car – when you begin to learn, it takes time and effort, but with consistent practice, the new skill becomes ‘hard-wired’ into your brain and is effortless and automatic. Using CBT to rid yourself of unwanted negative patterns of thinking and behaving takes time and effort initially, but in time, it becomes a very valuable life-changing skill learnt for good.
HYPNOTHERAPY
I use hypnotherapy in my practice, either on its own – some clients want to see me just for hypnotherapy sessions to tackle any problem they may have, or as a resource in my counselling sessions. If I conclude during a session that some hypnotherapy could benefit you, I will suggest this, but of course, it is up to you to decide whether or not this is right for you.
For more information on Cognitive Hypnotherapy and how it would work in practice for you, see Hypnotherapy FAQs.
Contact Jo
Phone: 07967 528898
Email: therapy@jopreston.co.uk
Face-to-face sessions in my North London Practice or Online