Creative therapies
Feeling safe in a complex world
Now more than ever, the world is busy and filled with uncertainty.
Rapid societal change and adverse life experiences are increasingly resulting in physical and mental health challenges for huge parts of the population.
This affects quality of life, both for individuals and their families. It can impact us internally by how we feel and think, and externally in our ability to connect with others and the world around us. Traditional therapies help some, but many with adverse experiences, or conditions such as ADHD, autism, PTSD or long-Covid continue to face challenges finding appropriate
evidence-based therapies rooted in up-to-date research. As a progressive therapist, I am continually updating my practice with the latest training, enabling integration of the latest best practice and techniques to stay current, meeting needs of my clients and the Bristol community.
Children & Young People
The smallest change in schedule or routine can send a child with anxiety into turmoil. Anxiety can cause stomach aches, migraines, hives, interruptions to sleep and eating routines, difficulties in social interaction and inattention.
Educationally, the transition back to school, college, university can invoke a fear of failure which makes some children spend excessive time on homework and projects. It leads others to procrastinate and avoid starting an assignment or project – leading to continued anxiety.
Adults & Parents
There have been many changes to work environments and expectation during the last year which can naturally cause feelings of nervousness or dread can cause adults to delay work and projects for many reasons leading to anxiety and low mood.
Recurring anxiety can lead to a downward spiral that triggers an imbalance of the autonomic nervous system – which affects mood, motivation and cognition. These are unprecedented times and causes disruptions to our sense of normality.
Some of the conditions I work with, using somatic experiencing & listening systems (SSP)
- Stress management
- Developmental trauma
- ASD/ADHD/FASD/SPD
- Social, emotional and attachment disorders
- Grief and loss
- Auditory hypersensitivity
- Toxic shame
- Cultural identity/Dimensions of diversity
- Body organisation
- Nervous system dysregulation
- Learning, cognition and attention difficulty
- Sensory processing differences
- Stress-related physical conditions
Theories and practice
Creative Integrative Therapy
Alongside the specialist targeted interventions such as bio-feedback and Safe and sound protocol I use trauma and attachment-informed, creative integrative contemporary therapies.
These are talking therapies rooted in polyvagal theory, somatic therapy, developmental attachment theory and Intergenerational trauma theory – with creative activities designed to nurture the sensory system and body-brain bottom up and top-down approaches.
For some clients, beginning with understanding and interpreting thoughts and perspectives is compatible with tolerance and process of self-awareness.
For others, a somatic experiencing bottom up body-based therapy is more compatible with need. Somatic experiencing is the process of growing awareness of and experiencing your physical sensations in the body. Somatic therapy is designed to relieve symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). A bottom-up body-based approach to therapy, supports a sense of distance from conscious traumatic thoughts and verbal narrative, enabling a process of regulation and engagement that is less likely to overwhelm the client and lead to dysregulation and re-traumatisation.
Polyvagal Theory
Polyvagal Theory, or the “science of feeling safe,” is a key research advancement that helps us better understand our challenges and gives us a foundational framework for non-invasive ways to support them.
Polyvagal Theory focuses on what is happening in the body and the nervous system, and explains how our sense of safety, or danger or threat, can impact our behaviour. Understanding Polyvagal Theory gives us a scientific framework that can be applied through physiological, or “bottom-up” therapies, to help change and improve how we feel, think and connect with others.
Ways of working:
- 1:1 with children & young people
- SEN small groups
- 1:1 with parents
Developmental Attachment Theory
A creative therapy which supports the key principles of playfulness, acceptance, curiosity and empathy – a great way of working with children and young people in 1:1 therapy.
Therapeutic Parenting, with DDP principles at its core, provides a safe and evidence-based framework to build collaborative partnerships with parents/caregivers to explore their own attachment histories and broaden awareness of how inherited values systems influence our parenting and relational stance towards our children and partners in intrafamilial dynamics.
Ways of working:
- 1:1 work with children & young people
- Therapeutic Parenting
- Attachment based Family Therapy
