Services & Information
Find out more about the therapies we provide here, in addition there are some useful links and resources
What is EDMR?
EMDR was developed by Francine Shapiro, an American clinical psychologist, in 1987. Much of her initial research was with Vietnam veterans experiencing PTSD. The effects were remarkable – soldiers who had previously been resistant to all forms of therapy were cured within a few sessions. Nowadays the traumas tend to come from car crashes or accidents, from loss or grief. Sometimes they generate from painful incidents way back in childhood, including abuse.
The theory is that when a trauma occurs certain parts of the brain become over-excited and "freeze" the information in its original anxiety-producing form. So instead of letting the experience become a normal memory, the brain clutches onto the terror and fear. This "frozen" information will resurface giving rise to intrusive thoughts, uncomfortable feelings, flashbacks, nightmares, even full-blown phobias or panic attacks.
These are some links which help to think about EMDR and understand its principles.
What is Cognitive Analytic Therapy?
Cognitive Analytic Therapy (CAT) is most effective in the treatment of depression, anxiety disorders, borderline personality disorder, eating disorders, phobias or OCD.
CAT explores the problematic ways in which you think, feel and act, whilst offering a collaborative way of understanding the origins of your distress (which are often rooted in early life/experiences or from childhood), and how these difficulties may be maintained by the ways that you have learned to cope or manage your problems, feelings and needs. If you are experiencing difficulties in your relationships with yourself or other people, then CAT might be the right therapy for you.
CAT Therapy can either be 8,16 or 24 sessions.
The number of sessions recommended would depend on how complex or entrenched the issues are, and would usually be able to be determined in the first session.
24 sessions is the recommended number of sessions for eating disorders or complex trauma/EUPD
and 8 sessions can be helpful for a briefer intervention.
A typical 16-session CAT would involve:
Sessions 1-4: you will discuss your current difficulties and go over your developmental history (any significant events that occurred as you were growing up – positive and negative); your therapist will read to you a ‘reformulation letter’, which is a written account of a shared understanding of the story of your life and how some of your past experiences might be affecting you now.
Sessions 5-12: developing a formulation diagram (mapping out patterns in a visual format); use of formulation tools and diaries to aid recognition of unhelpful patterns; and, together, developing exits (revision) from these patterns e.g. coping strategies, new ways of relating.
Sessions 13-16: on-going work of therapy plus an explicit focus on endings/ending therapy (particularly if you have had difficult endings or losses in your early life); goodbye letters to and from the therapist read aloud and exchanged.
Follow-up at 3 months for review.
Evidence from CAT across the various diagnoses as a whole suggests it facilitates good outcomes. CAT is a therapy that clients can easily relate to, and it has low drop out rates. Please visit www.acat.me.uk for more information
Read more about our Nature Based therapy approaches here Ecotherapy / Nature Therapy (goodtherapy.org)
or via the button below:
Links & Resources
Mental Health
Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM)
Anyone can hit crisis point. We run a free and confidential helpline and webchat – 7 hours a day, 7 days a week for anyone who needs to talk about life’s problems. We support those bereaved by suicide, through the Support After Suicide Partnership (SASP).
Lifestyle
Patricia Gough
MBACP, Dip. Humanistic, Integrative Counsellor. Patricia is experienced in supporting people who face a wide range of difficulties such as anxiety, depression, bereavement/loss, life transitions, parenting children with complex needs, family estrangement, adult children of alcoholics, high sensitivity, relationship issues and more. Patricia is gender, sexuality and relationship diversity affirmative & allied with kink/bdsm, polyamory, sex workers and sex-positive communities.
Lifestyle
Meg-John Barker
They have a brilliant website where you can find their free zines and resources on gender, sexuality and relationship diversity, as well as just being human and navigating life! They are free and SO informative! They also have a brilliant podcast, a blog and several published several books.
Lifestyle
Switchboard
Another great Brighton LGBTQ service is Switchboard. Switchboard is a charity for LGBTQ people looking for community, support or information. They connect people and support them directly through specially developed Switchboard services or link them to other specialist organisations.
Family
Flourish
During Covid-19 it’s natural for us to feel worried or anxious at the moment, we’ve all experienced sudden changes in our lives and to our routines. Jo works as a School-Based Counsellor in England and is continuing to support secondary/sixth form/college/university students via YouTube.
Family
Family Lives Matter
People can contact about all aspects of family life that include all stages of a child’s development, issues with schools and parenting/relationship support. They also respond when life becomes more complicated and provide support around family breakdown, aggression in the home, bullying, teenage risky behaviour and mental health concerns of both parents and their children.
Helpline: 0808 800 2222, email us at askus@familylives.org.uk or alternatively visit our forums or online advice.