Therapy Approach
I will tailor our sessions to meet your specific needs, utilising evidence-based therapeutic approaches.
I predominantly use Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and Compassion Focused Therapy, as well as and Psychodynamic therapy and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT).
Sessions usually consist of both skills development e.g. learning how to manage anxiety and low mood using emotional regulation techniques, self talk and values, as well as going deeper to understand how past experiences have impacted current behaviour and thinking. Sessions can also include simple mindfulness and self-compassion practices.
Acceptance & Commitment Therapy
The goal of ACT is to work with difficult thoughts and feelings, recognising that they are natural part of a human life. This enables a person to drop self-judgement, develop self-acceptance, and move toward their valued direction in life. When we do this, we often find that we are much stronger and resilient than we thought.
Connection with values – the stuff that really matters in your life – is a core part of this work. We will spend time in session figuring out what matters to you and how you can start to move towards the rich, full, meaningful life you want.
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
When working with OCD, I use Exposure Response Prevention (ERP) which is the gold standard for treating OCD.
ERP works by interrupting the cycle of obsessions and compulsions. In session, we will gradually and carefully confront your obsessions, open up to the discomfort you feel, and resist the urge to do compulsions. This might sound scary, but we'll go at your pace and start with the easiest parts of your OCD experience.
Throughout your life, you’ve probably developed certain strategies which made it easier to tolerate your anxiety. If you have OCD, these have developed into a specific set of compulsions that work, for a while, to make your feel better. However, these strategies just never seem to be enough and eventually the obsessions always come back. In reality, by doing compulsions you are teaching your brain that your obsessions are indeed major threats and that you can’t handle them, which only gives them more power.
When you have therapy to stop doing compulsions, you will learn to tolerate uncertainty and doubt, and teach your brain that discomfort from obsessions is more manageable than you think, and it will go away on its own. Eventually, you're able to simply acknowledge that you're having an unwanted thought, idea, image, or urge, and it won't feel nearly as distressing.
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) will still be the foundation of our work together because, not only is it a wonderful approach for all psychological issues, it supports the exposure work perfectly.
ACT helps you to develop the willingness to feel your difficult emotions, bring compassion to these difficult feelings, self sooth, and develop the curiosity to keep moving through the hard work of ERP.
I have been trained in ACT informed ERP, and am regularly supervised, by Ben Sedley, who is one of NZ’s best OCD therapists.
