Addiction Therapy

Bereavement and Loss Counselling

Bereavement counselling may take more time than other counselling. The more tragic and the deeper the relationship is that the client has with the deceased, the more complicated this process is.

My approach is simply to support and walk the road with the client as they go through the stages and tasks of grief.
Bereavement can also refer to loss in a relationship, a job, children moving away, grieving pets, etc.

Suicide Prevention

Two client groups are worked with in suicide prevention.
The actively suicidal person and the people who care for them.
In Prevail, I work with both of them.

For the person contemplating suicide, I validate their reasons for being suicidal and try to put a suicide prevention plan in place.
I encourage them to identify the positive factors, such as good friendships, even work, that have given them a reason to live so far.

For the loved ones of suicidal people, I listen to their fears and anger over what their loved one is doing or threatening to do.

Anger Management

Anger management is a key feature of the work in Prevail.
It is common for people, both men and women, to feel frustrated, under pressure re work and family commitments.

It seems that modern life has expectations of what we should be able to do, how long it should take, and standards that we should attain.
I always point out that anger, in itself, is not wrong.
Anger can motivate you to do the right thing in a bad situation.
Anger is problematic when it transfers into aggression or rage.

Therapy for Negativity

It is my belief in Prevail that our thoughts are what control our emotions, behaviours and sensations in our body.
If our thoughts go astray, then our lives suffer.

The most common thought issue dealt with by me is negative self-thoughts. This does not usually require medical intervention unless there is a strong negative emotional reaction.

Grounding the person without aggressively challenging them is a key approach.
For long-term symptom reduction,
I help the client identify triggers to their behaviour and develop coping skills.

Anxiety and Depression Therapy

Anxiety and depression are classed as mood disorders.
A person can have both together. In many ways, deciding if a client has anxiety or depression is a matter of opinion.

Depression is mostly associated with sadness and feeling unmotivated in life.
Anxiety is more so when a person is physically or mentally agitated and can not settle to complete tasks.

Mood disorders generally come from two sources.
Lived experience from the life the client grew up with and the client’s brain chemistry.

Self Esteem Counselling

The lower we value ourselves and others, the less we believe we can manage stress in our lives.
As time goes on, our threshold for managing stressors in our lives spirals downwards.

Our thoughts and emotions exaggerate our inabilities and past failures. Our abilities and past successes are, for the most part, ignored and forgotten.

My work in Prevail aims to gently challenge the false self-beliefs clients hold.