To do this I need to put you in the picture about my background and how this influences my therapy. I hated school. I certainly didn’t fit the delivery style of most teachers, or as I later refer to them as “tellers”. I am one of those ‘lucky’ people who had difficultly with auditory processing. Basically if you just tell me something, I’ve forgotten it in a few minutes. So how does that help you? I can imagine you are thinking great, I’m going to tell my story and she’s going to forget it!!, but don’t panic, I’ve learnt to adapt. It’s meant that when I deliver information and strategies to my clients I use diagrams, colour, stories and as we sort through issues we use the whiteboard. I find this works for most people. Oh and don’t expect brilliant drawings, despite my art teaching training, they are often stick figures lol.
Whilst I have worked with most presentations, I am often approached to work with people that are experiencing significant distress and who often use some pretty extreme measures to regulate. I’m told that the way in which I explain how our brain and body responds to threat/danger is pretty helpful. My motto is: Validate (our thoughts, feelings and actions); Establish safety (what is dangerous, what is not); and Regulate (lets settle our system down). Validation is the number 1 thing. When we beat ourselves up for our responses, there is no way on earth we can establish safety and regulate. It’s ok….you are not broken and I can help.
I am a psychologist who practices therapy. Although I work with adults, I have a lot of experience working with young people (adolescents and teenagers)
