Anxiety

Some of the most common symptoms of anxiety are:

Increased heart rate, muscle tension, tingling in the hands and feet, hyperventilation, dizziness, difficulty breathing, feeling sick, palpitations, tightness across the chest and tension headaches.

Anxiety is a normal, if unpleasant, part of life, it affects us all in different ways and at different times. Whereas stress is something that will come and go as the external factor causing it (work, relationship or money problems, etc.) comes and goes, anxiety is something that can persist whether or not the cause is clear to the sufferer.

Anxiety can make a person believe that things in their life are beyond solution and this can prevent anxiety sufferers from confronting their fears.

It’s important to remember that anxiety is normal and has existed as long as humanity itself. If we feel threatened in any way, the ‘danger radar’ survival instinct part of the brain will trigger and release adrenaline to prepare us for our ‘Fight or Flight’ response to the threat. This isn’t so useful nowadays, but still serves to ‘keep us safe’, but often it can be triggered when we are at no risk of physical danger.

There are many ways that help us to cope with anxiety including mindfulness, meditation, exercise and talking things through in therapy to understand the root cause and how to manage this. I have worked with many clients to help them to control and understand their anxiety and develop effective coping techniques and the results have been positive and indeed life changing.

Feel like you're not good enough?

We can often be our own worst critics. Do you sometimes believe that you’re ‘not good enough’? Low self-esteem is the main cause of this. Understanding why we have such a low sense of confidence and self-esteem is vital for us to be able to change this and move on with our lives.

We are not simply born with low self-esteem, it normally comes from outside influences, childhood messages we received, or traumatic experiences we’ve had throughout the years such as abuse, bullying or a toxic relationship where we constantly received negative comments/messages and we then internalise them and start to believe them ourselves.

The good news is, our minds are incredibly clever and can learn new ways of functioning, but of course it does take some practice. With the help of a professional you can learn new ways of thinking and how to practice this.

Grief/Bereavement

Grief can be felt through the loss of a loved one, loss of a relationship, losing a job, or loss of health as well as other.

There is no timescale for grief, and we all deal with grief in our own way. There is no right or wrong way to cope with grief. There are many emotions and stages we go through when experiencing a loss including:

Shock, denial, sadness, anger, physical pain, guilt, remorse, fear, and frustration and acceptance.

Talking about your loss to a professional can really help, often my clients have described talking in our sessions as more helpful than talking to a friend or family member as they don’t feel as though they are judged and can be more open with really feeling and understanding their loss and are more able to process their grief

Relationship issues

Relationships can be challenging sometimes, whether it’s a relationship with one of your work colleagues/boss, your partner, a family member or a friend. The reality is that we all have different opinions on different matters and therefore there will always be debates/arguments and sometimes, communication breakdowns will occur.

Part of the theory I work with is Transactional Analysis which looks in more detail at how we communicate psychologically, how we may find ourselves playing ‘mind games’ and how we may react to others. Looking more closely at this helps to increase self-awareness of how we behave and that helps us to make changes in how we interact with those around us. Our own self-beliefs affect how we are in relationships with others. We are all creatures of habit and can therefore find ourselves in unhealthy relationships over and over again without us realising what the problem is.

If you are struggling in a relationship, and would like professional help to figure out what needs to change and what you can do to change how you communicate with others, then please do not hesitate to get in touch and we can have a chat and look at booking some sessions together.

About Me

I qualified as a humanistic counsellor in 2014.

I’m a registered member of the BACP (British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy).

I decided to train as a counsellor after my own experience with counselling, during a very emotional time in my life. I found that it really helped to talk to someone who I wasn’t emotionally attached to, and who I felt safe enough to express my emotions freely. The experience was empowering, and enabled me to discover my inner resilience.

I work in a very open way with my clients. I am very supportive and empathic, and offer a safe, calm environment for our sessions.

I work on the Newbury/Thatcham border in West Berkshire.

In our initial session, I will carry out an assessment, which will help me to understand what it is you are struggling with, and to explore what you’d like to gain from counselling. It is a good opportunity for us to see if we feel we could work well together.

Contact Me

Email:nicola@landless.com

Telephone:07789 930271