When trauma re-surfaces… There are a lot of myths about trauma, one of which is that you process what happened straight away and that you can process it quickly. For some people this is true, but for others the impact of trauma can push to the front of your daily life at unexpected times, in […]
Re-empowerment After Experiencing Trauma
Re-empowerment after experiencing trauma… 1 in 3 adults in England have experienced some form of traumatic event. So how do we make sense of trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder? My approach considers an individual’s subjective experience alongside our mental health system that aims to recognise and treat these from an objective perspective. These two perspectives […]
Rewind Therapy
Rewind Technique for Trauma… One thing that makes life with trauma unbearable is its ability to forcibly shape your experiences of your self, relationships, and the wider world as you navigate everyday life. As you try to move forward, the events of the past keep pulling you back. People often think you have to talk […]
Is My Therapist The Right Fit For Me?
How do I know my therapist is the right fit for me? Looking for the right therapist for you can be stressful and daunting, even if you know what you need in someone to adequately support you. My professional experience has taught me that accessing therapy is rarely a linear process. Many people’s experiences include […]
Empowerment in Psychotherapy
The final theme in my book covers how to promote empowerment in psychotherapy with survivors of sexual violence. This is especially important given that sexual violence is inherently disempowering as automatic survival responses come to life as fight, fight, or freeze in the moment. Afterwards these responses may keep happening, alongside a wider society that […]
How do we talk about experiences of abuse?
Abuse is a cognitive, emotional, and somatic process. As such, talking about abuse is a cognitive, emotional, and somatic process. Sometimes it spills out in an urgent way. Sometimes it’s slow and takes time. There can be vivid memories, flashbacks, nightmares, and physical sensations. These are the mind and body re-telling the story in a […]
I’m A Social Impact Star Award Nominee
Around a fortnight ago I received an e-mail from a network called Inspiring Women Changemakers to let me know I had been put forward by two of its members for an award. I spent a fair part of the following hour getting my head around the news, which was such a surprise. The timing marks […]
Finding the Person Amongst Mental Health
One thing I’m open about is how difficult it can be to condense information about mental health into a short blog post, article, or a photo with a bit of text on social media. Mental health support and information should be accessible to everyone so it’s great to use all these platforms. But I worry […]
Introducing Myself Online
Whilst we’re all behind screens more than ever during lockdown, I thought it might be helpful to introduce myself. My name is Erene, and I’m an Integrative Psychotherapist. I have worked with adult clients for ten years so far, including setting up two community-based services between 2014 and 2018. I am also a writer, and speaker, […]
Mental Health Awareness Week: Busting Myths About Asking for Support
For MHAW I’d like to bust some myths about psychotherapy, so that people feel more able to access support for their mental health in this way. Here are five myths I hear a lot about psychotherapy: ‘You have to go to therapy for years to make any progress’ Not true at all. Some types of […]