Leicester Counselling

No. This is not used in counselling or EMDR. Neither therapy is hypnotism. Your practitioner may teach you various forms of deep relaxation but this is not hypnotism. The key point is that at all times during either counselling or EMDR you will remain conscious and in control.

Extensive research is being carried out at the present, precisely on this subject. EMDR is being used in many anxiety based disorders, as well as a method of performance enhancement training. If you are a sportsman or woman, who would like to discuss this at more length, or if your coach would like to discuss matters in more detail, please contact me.

No. Many clients report experiencing benefits following one or two sessions. Clients with multiple traumas and/or complex histories of childhood abuse, neglect, and poor attachment may require more extensive therapy.

Initially you would attend for an Assessment session with the EMDR practitioner. In this session the practitioner will work with you to identify your current problems and assessing whether EMDR may be appropriate form of treatment, and whether you are suited to this approach. They will provide you with some further information on EMDR and answer any questions (when possible) you may have about the treatment. Following the Assessment sessions a treatment plan may be identified and the practitioner will check your interest in proceeding with treatment. After a thorough assessment, you will be asked specific questions about a particular disturbing memory. Eye movements, similar to those during REM sleep, will be recreated simply by asking you to watch the practitioner’s finger moving backwards and forwards across your visual field or the practitioner will use alternate hand tapping. The eye movements will last for a short while and then stop. You will then be asked to report back on the experiences you have had during each of these sets of eye movement, hand tapping. Experiences during a session may include changes in thoughts, images and feelings. With repeated sets of eye movements, the memory tends to change in such a way that it loses its painful intensity and simply becomes a neutral memory of an event in the past. Other associated memories may also heal at the same time. This linking of related memories can lead to a dramatic and rapid improvement in many aspects of your life.

The following may help you to decide which EMDR practitioner is best for you: Qualifications – Ask your EMDR practitioner what level of training he or she has had, and ask to see the certificates. A qualified EMDR practitioner holds part 1, 2 and 3 with a recognized training body as recommended by the EMDR Association for UK and Ireland (link). Ask to see certificates. Professional Membership – Reputable EMDR practitioners are members of respectable national bodies such as the EMDR Association UK and Ireland. This means they have met the criteria set above. Ask your EMDR practitioner about membership of professional bodies, and ask to see proof of membership. Record Keeping – Ask your EMDR practitioner what records are kept, how they are stored, and for how long they are stored. If records are kept on a computer, ask about whether or not they are encrypted, as you wouldn’t want anyone to be able to access your records. If they are kept in a filing cabinet, is it one which is securely locked? Professionalism – How professional is the EMDR practitioner in terms of his or her honesty in advertising, openness about charges, willingness to offer receipts for payment, making and keeping appointments, and time keeping? Does your EMDR practitioner have professional insurance to operate? Confidentiality – If you are not told, ask about what confidentiality policy is in operation. Find out what the limitations are to confidentiality and assure yourself that you understand and are comfortable with them. Code of Ethical Practice – Find out whether or not your EMDR practitioner follows a code of ethical practice which spells out his or her requirement to work in your best interests at all times. Any EMDR practitioner who is also a member of a national professional body will almost certainly be required to agree to a code of professional conduct before becoming a member. Accountability – There are two ways in which any reputable EMDR practitioner operating in private practice is accountable for his or her practice. Membership of a professional body means that clients can complain and, if the complaint is upheld, gain some form of redress. In the UK the ultimate sanction is removal from membership of the professional body. The second, more immediate, form of accountability is through regular consultation/supervision. Reputable EMDR practitioners are required to meet regularly with an EMDR Consultant who will question and support ways of working with particular clients and monitor practice.

Counselling may be for you if you are feeling anxious, depressed, or unfulfilled in any sense and nothing seems to help. You may have tried to cope with your problems on your own but you find it hard to deal with. Counselling can help you develop the necessary coping skills and can provide you with a set of new strategies you can apply to make your problem manageable.

Most counsellors believe that some payment, however small, reflects the client’s commitment to the process. It is all too easy to miss a session if the going gets tough. Ensure you are clear about all charges for sessions before starting counselling and this includes the arrangement around late cancellations or missed sessions.

You can either contact by e-mail wendie@butterflycounselling.com or telephone 07908 228353 and leaving a message on the confidential voicemail. You will be contacted back within 24 hours. Face to Face appointments are usually offered within 7 days, if you request a telephone consultation you are initially contacted within 24 hours to arrange a mutually convenient time.

The quick answer to this question is yes in certain cases. However you are strongly recommended to contact me first.

As a professional practitioner who abides by a code of professional ethics, you will not be encouraged to stay longer than felt necessary and you are free to stop the process at any time. We will have regular reviews with clients to check that the process is working for you and to discuss with you what (if anything) still needs to be done. Some people come for a few sessions, some for much longer. Initially we encourage clients to think in terms of committing for six sessions because it often takes that long to understand the problem, build a therapeutic relationship, and to achieve any change. You will have a sense of whether or not what you want to talk about can be helped in the short or longer term. Some people occasionally want to come back for a short period of time after a break. For example you may had some sessions doing some really important work, but then find that two years on, you want to come back for one or two more, to reinforce that change and adapt it to new circumstances.

There are likely to be many counsellors to choose from within your location and only you can decide whether a counsellor is right for you. Before agreeing to work with a counsellor, don’t be afraid to ask questions or request further information. Most will be happy to provide additional information over the phone. Your relationship with your counsellor is a vital ingredient so it is important that you feel comfortable enough to share and talk about personal issues. The following provides additional information to help you decide which counsellor is best for you: Qualifications – Ask your counsellor what level of training he or she has had, and ask to see the certificates. It is always best to be skeptical of anyone who had not had several years of study at a reputable university – and diplomas and degrees are preferable to certificates. Professional Membership – Reputable counsellors are all accredited members of respectable national bodies such as the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP). This means that in addition to their years of academic study, they have also had to gain several hundred hours of supervised practice demonstrating competency. Watch out for ‘accredited’ membership this is not equal to “accredited” member. Only accredited members have demonstrated (amongst other things) both training and practical competency. Ask your counsellor about membership of professional bodies and ask to see proof of membership. Model of Therapy – Ask what kind of counsellor he or she is, and try to do some research once you are given the answer. Each ‘school of therapy’ has a different set of underlying core assumptions and will encourage practitioners to work with clients in a particular way. Many counsellors these days are describing themselves as ‘eclectic’ or ‘integrative’ meaning that in addition to their initial training, they have picked up ideas and skills from other counselling models and try to integrate these into their practice for the benefit of the client. Rather than sticking rigidly to one model, they tend to go with whatever suits the particular client best. (Put link in for modes of counselling at BACP). Area of Expertise – Ask about any particular area of expertise a counsellor may have. Some clients are not initially able to identify their problems and value the chance to explore with a trained professional. However, others are well aware of particular areas they want to work on and they are looking for specific and skilful help. If you are struggling with an addiction for example, you may wish to assure yourself that the counsellor you are seeing has experience of working with this issue. Record Keeping – Ask your counsellor what records are kept, how they are stored, and for how long they are stored. If records are kept on a computer, ask about whether or not they are encrypted, as you wouldn’t want anyone to be able to access your records. If they are kept in a filing cabinet, is it one which is securely locked? Professionalism – How professional is the counsellor in terms of his or her honesty in advertising, openness about charges, willingness to offer receipts for payment, making and keeping appointments, and time keeping? Does your counsellor have professional insurance to operate? Confidentiality – If you are not told, ask about what confidentiality policy is in operation. Find out what the limitations are to confidentiality and assure yourself that you understand and are comfortable with them. Code of Ethical Practice – Find out whether or not your counsellor follows a code of ethical practice which spells out his or her requirement to work in your best interests at all times. Any counsellor who is also a member of a national professional body will almost certainly be required to agree to a code of professional conduct before becoming a member. Accountability – There are two ways in which any reputable counsellor operating in private practice is accountable for his or her practice. Membership of a professional body means that clients can complain and, if the complaint is upheld, gain some form of redress. In the UK the ultimate sanction is removal from membership of the professional body. Readers of newsletters and journals produced by the professional bodies will know that this does, in fact, happen on a regular basis. The second, more immediate, form of accountability is through regular supervision. Reputable counsellors are required to meet regularly with experienced practitioners who will question and support ways of working with particular clients and monitor practice. For example, BACP members are required to have at least one and a half hours supervision a month.