Therapy for...

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Everyone experiences sadness in life and sadness is a normal human emotion. When sadness turns to depression, we feel consistently less engaged in life, in work, friends and family and can find that our energy, mood and sleep all become reduced. Our relationship with food and alcohol can change and we can lose interest in the things we previously enjoyed. We may feel hopeless about the future. 

It's perfectly human to feel concerned about life's journey and life events. An exam; a presentation; a career move, a relationship etc. When concern turns to excessive and persistent worry, then it can start to dominate our lives and our decisions. 'What if?', can become a limited question. Persistent, unresolved worry about life, health or social situations can feel coverwhelming.

Everyone has intrusive thoughts, images and urges. For most people, these are fleeting and we are able to move on from them. For people dealing with OCD, these intrusions become compelling and we need to take steps to neutralise them. This might be enacting a ritual (washing, cleaning, checking, thinking through, counting etc.) or aiming to avoid situations where our thoughts are triggered. 

We all have things we'd prefer not to do or be in contact with. When this preference becomes an overwhelming and irrational fear, then a phobia may have developed. Phobias are when we attach strong emotions of fear to any item, object or situation. When this fear prevents us engaging in life it can be very limiting and narrowing.

Life throws many challenges at us. Sometimes traumatic events can have a cumulative effect on us and we find ourselves feeling worn down and scarred. We need a space to unpack and process things. Trauma does not inevitably lead to PTSD. Sometimes, specific events shock us. In PTSD, we experience flashbacks and nightmares; we are hyper-vigilant to threat and avoid situations, fearing threat. 

When we experience sustained trauma, often through repeated exposure to trauma in childhood or in relationships in adulthood, we can find our sense of ourselves fundamentally changed. Along with PTSD symptoms, we might struggle in relationships, be highly critical of ourselves and struggle to manage our emotions. We can feel rather lost and alienated, unable to fully trust and open up to others.