We all have a past we try to remember and a past we try to forget. We also have ideas, hopes and fears about the future.

Yet the present is where we actually live. When we remain caught in past suffering, painful conditions, regrets and unresolved conflicts, or become preoccupied with what might happen, our ability to experience the present as a safe place can be seriously compromised.

Psychotherapy can help you understand and work through what continues to shape a fragile or vulnerable relationship with the past and future, allowing you to live more fully and securely in the here and now.

This may involve working with:

• Childhood adverse experiences, family and relationship difficulties.

• Neglect, abuse, loss, grief, guilt, shame and regret.

• Persistent worry, rumination and anticipatory anxiety.

• Panic attacks, depression and emotional instability.

• Anger, tearfulness, helplessness and difficulty expressing feelings.

• Social anxiety, phobias, dread and fear of other people.

• Retirement, bereavement, changes in a sense of your own identity, and loss of direction or purpose.

• Existential anxiety concerning death, isolation, freedom and meaninglessness.

• Overwhelm, vulnerability, fear of shame, embarrassment and the wish to withdraw from people.

• Compulsive habits and repetitive behaviours, including those associated with obsessive-compulsive difficulties.

• Addictions and habits of escapism and absorption in fantasy more than reality

The aim of Fear and Trauma Work is not to eliminate every uncomfortable feeling you experience. It is to understand what the meaning and purpose of your feelings; to learn to trust in your body again; to develop greater freedom in how you respond to life, and to become less governed by habitual fear and avoidance.

Summary

• Make Sense of Your Past

• Understand Your Reactions

• Recognise Old Survival Patterns

• Feel Safer in Yourself

• Learn to Trust Again

• Resolve What Remains Unfinished

• Stop Living in the Shadow of the Past

• Find Your Own Way Forward

Our social and family environments shape us profoundly, particularly when we are young and defenceless. The effects of trauma upon the individual psyche are no longer limited to extreme events, but are now prevalent in our ordinary circumstances. Many of the expectations we absorb are instilled under various degrees of duress. And rules and implied threats for breaking such rules routinely govern ideas we adopt about how to be a good child, student, worker, friend, family member or citizen. Conformity and uncritical acceptance of rules that shape our identity may not support our mental, physical or spiritual health or the call of our own authentic conscience.

As children, we often learn to conform to roles in order to gain approval, avoid punishment, preserve important relationships, and to simply survive. Many of these adaptations remain with us in adulthood long after they have ceased to be helpful.

For people who have experienced early exposure to conflict, abuse, neglect, bullying, poverty stress, violence or other overwhelming events and circumstances, the effects can reach into almost every aspect of our adult life. The mind and body may remain organised around surviving instead of thriving: constantly alert to danger, anticipating the worst, struggling to feel safe or finding it difficult to relax into relationships and everyday experiences.

Fear and Trauma Work is not simply about managing or getting rid of feelings, it’s a way of understanding the psyche’s deeper purpose and needs, so that powerful experiences can be resolved.

I offer an individually tailored, flexible approach to chronic insecurity, anger, fear and trauma. The work considers the ways traumatic experiences can affect thoughts, emotions, body sensations, habits and our relationship with the world.

Over decades of clinical work, I have developed a range of structured practices that can be adapted to a person's history, needs and circumstances. Depending on what is needed, these may draw on approaches such as EMDR/EMNR, biofeedback, EFT, yoga and meditation, in synergy with other protocols developed through my own clinical practice.

Some of this work can be practised between sessions, helping you develop greater awareness, regulate stress and establish a stronger sense of internal stability and safety.

The aim is to move beyond merely surviving: from persistent insecurity, hypervigilance and feeling constantly on edge or prone to overwhelm, towards being more grounded, self-protective, confident and at ease in your own body and mind.

Difficulties addressed in trauma work include

• Adverse and traumatic experiences in childhood or adulthood, including neglect, abuse, sexual assault and physical violence.

• Core Trauma: or developmental trauma, that is the result of early childhood exposure to lack of care, to stress, fear, anxiety and insecurity

• Post-traumatic stress, including PTSD and complex PTSD, and the somatisation of trauma as physical symptoms.

• Developmental trauma and its possible relationship to chronic insecurity, hypervigilance, dissociation, emotional disconnection, fear of intimacy and other longstanding psychological difficulties.

The way trauma presents differs from person to person. An initial discussion helps us consider your circumstances and whether this approach is appropriate for you.

Psychotherapy begins by taking your experience seriously and becoming curious about what lies beneath the surface.

Authenticity is not about becoming a perfect version of yourself. It is about becoming more honest and true to who you are, more self-aware and more able to live in accordance with what genuinely matters to you.

Returning to your own reality requires courage: the willingness to question the familiar landscape of your life, to maybe face uncomfortable truths, and to take responsibility for the possibilities available to you and the choices you make.

If this work interests you, an Introductory Meeting gives us an opportunity to discuss your situation and what you are looking for.