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March 26, 2020 by Brighton & Hove Psychotherapy Leave a Comment

How Psychotherapy will be vital in helping people through the Covid-19 crisis

Many self-employed psychotherapists, psychologists and counsellors have immediately felt the economic impact of the crisis brought by Covid-19. As our clients began to either lose their jobs or face increasing economic uncertainty, many had to either put their sessions on hold or stop coming altogether. Many of us have either dropped our fees or continued seeing people with the uncertainty of getting paid. Unfortunately, some people have lost their support system when they need it the most.

Private Psychotherapy has always been enjoyed by many in the UK and around the world, as most national health services cannot offer the same level of professional service due to cost.

Psychotherapy practices have always offered a vital service to the community, whether through charities, low-cost services or full paying clinics. Psychotherapy is a place where people’s deepest mental anguishes have a place to exist, to unfold and to be healed.

The health and consequent economic crisis brought by Covid-19 is already affecting people’s mental health in several ways, some of which have not yet come to light. This is being felt and will continue to be felt for a while to come at all levels of society.

An Existential Crisis

Covid-19 has highlighted our main vulnerabilities as human beings. It has hit many people at a very fundamental existential level as many have lost their jobs and their livelihoods overnight. In addition to this, as more people become infected and die of Coronavirus, we have become much more aware of our mortality and that of those we love.

Living in a globalised world, the spread of the virus had happened so rapidly that we have not had the time to process and digest the changes which we have been required to make as a result of the restrictions imposed to keep the virus from spreading. Never could we have imagined that something which started in China a few months ago could spread and reach our doorstep so rapidly and dramatically. This further highlighted our lack of immunity to world events.

Impacts of Lockdown

With people being asked to stay at home to protect the NHS, schools and businesses closing and people being asked to work from home (if they still have work), suddenly the home has become office, school, gym, social hub and place of relaxation. Whilst some families are feeling more crowded as a result of these changes, some people living on their own have become more lonely, isolated and vulnerable.

Some families trying to make life work under lockdown are finding that their relationships are being put under more strain, whilst children of unhappy and even abusive families are being made to stay at home more.

Of course, there are also positive stories emerging as a result of families spending more time together and solidarity between people. In times such as this, we are seeing the best and the worst of human nature.

Why is Psychotherapy vital during these times?

To put it simply, in times of crisis psychotherapy helps us to hold onto our thinking. When our survival is threatened, our ‘reptilian brain’ takes over and we can act impulsively (panic buying for instance) often resulting in harm to self or others. Thinking makes us slow down and consider options. In times of crisis, we sometimes need to think quickly and make decisions. However, buying time to think enables us to put things into perspective and to make wise rather than impulsive decisions.

Because this is both a health and economic crisis, it is hitting many of us at our very core. The British attitude to “keep calm and carry on” works to a degree. Of course, we need to keep calm, but we also need a place to acknowledge and talk about our fears, losses, despair, sadness, anger, etc if we are going to survive this crisis in good mental health.

 

Sam Jahara is a Psychotherapist and Supervisor in private practice working with individuals and couples. She is also the co-founder of Brighton and Hove Psychotherapy, a multi-approach clinic, offering Psychotherapy, Psychology and Counselling to all client groups, both face-to-face and online.

 

Further reading by Sam Jahara

Leaving the Family

Psychotherapy and the climate crisis

Psychotherapy can change your life – but you may not want it to

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Filed Under: Mental Health, Psychotherapy, Sam Jahara, Society Tagged With: anxiety, counselling services, Mental Health

March 22, 2019 by Brighton & Hove Psychotherapy Leave a Comment

The Contemporary Consulting Room

Following on from the post featuring Andrew Robinson’s photographs of the rooms at Brighton and Hove Psychotherapy, I want to think about the objects in the room in which therapy takes place.

“Both room and house are psychological diagrams that guide writers and poets in their analysis of intimacy.” (Bachelard, 1958/1994:38). This implies we have a tacit (a felt but not easy to express in words) understanding of the psychology of physical space. I suggest that the surroundings in which therapy happens are part of the therapy.

In contemporary psychotherapy there is a concern about the blurring of the boundary between the personal and professional. In the psychodynamic model if the therapist’s life comes too much into focus the client’s therapeutic potential can be compromised. It is a commonly held belief that therapy should ideally happen in a neutrally private room. However we would want to avoid any resemblance to anything cold, clinical or cell like. Freud is well known for his iconic rug covered couch and his large collection of figures that stood like a group of silent watchers in his consulting room.

A positive approach to the objects and disclosure can provide opportunities for working things through. Let’s think about books on display in the consulting room. A collection of psychotherapy books could be reassuring, showing that the therapist is well informed and takes their professional development seriously. If a client shows an interest in a particular book it can open up an area for exploration.

The impact of objects in the room can become important when a counsellor moves or there is a change in the room. Lapworth describes how when he introduced a sculpture into his consulting room, a client re-saw the room and noticed the books that had been in the room all along. When her attention was drawn to the books by the arrival of a new object, they resonated with her father and she talked about him for the first time (Lapworth, 2012:8).

Field notes the need for counsellors to take transitional objects with them, for example a rug on the floor. When she moved her consulting room a client was relieved to see the rug reappear in the new room. “We came to understand that it was symbolic of my perception of him: that I accepted him as he was; in his words ‘scruffy, imperfect, colourful and well travelled!’ ” (Field, 2007:174).

Therapists can use objects and images to support themselves in their work. A small sculpture or photograph with personal associations or special memories can help a therapist keep an open mind and feel connected with their own resources. Clients can sooth themselves through difficult times by finding reassurance when looking at familiar elements in the room.

 

Angela Rogers is an Integrative Psychotherapeutic counsellor working with individuals and couples in Hove.

References

Bachelard, G. (1958/1994) The Poetics of Space.

Field, R. (2007) Working from home in independent practice.

Lapworth, P. (2011) Tales from the Therapy Room.

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Filed Under: Angela Rogers, Brighton and Hove Psychotherapy, Mental Health, Psychotherapy Tagged With: consulting rooms Brighton and Hove, Counselling, counselling services

December 13, 2013 by Brighton & Hove Psychotherapy 1 Comment

Counselling and Psychotherapy Services in Brighton & Hove

A Good Year for Brighton and Hove Psychotherapy

As we approach the end of another busy year it is time to look back at both the achievements and challenges of 2013. This has been our practice’s first year and a fruitful one so far. I attribute this to a close partnership of dedicated therapists who have a vision of providing high quality counselling and psychotherapy services to clients in the Brighton & Hove area.

We were also pleased to welcome very skilled practitioners who joined our practice as associates. Our valued associates work from our lovely premises on The Drive in Hove and offer individual, couples and group therapy.

I would like to most of all thank our clients who teach us so much each and every day. We hope this year has been a fruitful one for you too, on a personal, professional and spiritual level.

Wishing you a good holiday break and looking forward to seeing you in the New Year.

Sam Jahara and Mark Vahrmeyer

Face to Face and Online Therapy Help Available Now

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Filed Under: Brighton and Hove Psychotherapy, Mental Health, Psychotherapy Tagged With: Brighton & Hove, counselling services, psychotherapy services, therapy rooms

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