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Psychotherapy

How you may be feeling

It is so difficult when we can’t make sense of how it is we feel. We like to be able to justify our emotions with a clear rationale & when we are able to do this, we tend not to give ourselves such a hard time.

In situations where our emotions cannot be readily explained however, we will judge ourselves harshly, usually calling ourselves stupid or weak & as a result we end up blocking these feelings off. This strategy can work for a while, but ultimately what we tend to find is that our feelings don’t go away. They come up again & again.

Maybe in their original form, or hidden behind rage, anxiety, or destructive behaviour like alcohol abuse, compulsive spending or binge eating. When we’re acting in ways that inevitably wound us, there are usually unconscious issues to be addressed.

This is where Psychotherapy comes in…

How we can help

Every therapist at The Clearing is trained in depth psychotherapy. We will explore the issues with you, helping you to develop a deeper understanding of why you feel how you feel & do what you do.

This insight will help you to accept your emotions (& therefore yourself). You will learn how to face your feelings, so that they can simply be felt & allowed to pass. This in turn promotes future resilience, as once we realise that we can handle the difficult feelings, we develop the confidence that whatever life may throw at us, we’ll be able to cope.

Another benefit of depth psychotherapy is choice. In understanding why it is we always respond in a certain manner to a certain situation, the distance between our emotional reaction & behavioural response can be widened just enough to allow us to make a better choice for ourselves, thus freeing us from destructive patterns of behaviour.

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Book online today

We offer appointments Monday to Friday between 9am & 9pm. Sessions are held online or from our clinics in Jesmond, South Shields or County Durham. Arranging your first session with us is quick & easy.

Click on the Book Now button to view the sessions we have available across the next week. Search for a convenient appointment with the counsellor of your choice & book in within minutes. You’ll then be sent a confirmation email with the info you’ll need.

Your initial consultation with us is half price. We look forward to seeing you soon.

Book now

What can psychotherapy help with?

Below is a list of some of the issues that psychotherapy can be used to address:

  • Recurrent Depression or Anxiety
  • Compulsive Behaviours (such as Addictions & OCD)
  • Eating Disorders
  • Sexual Dysfunction
  • Anger Management
  • Phobias
  • Childhood Trauma

Therapists who offer this service

Rhian – Psychologist

Elizabeth – Senior Accredited Therapist

Sharon – Accredited Therapist

Annette, Jade & Joanne – Senior Qualified Therapists

Sam  – Qualified Therapist

Please visit our team page for more information about these therapists.

Hourly Fees

Your first session is half price with us (shown in brackets)

(£47.50) £95 with Dr Rhian

(£40) £80 with Elizabeth

(32.50) £65 with Annette

(£30) £60 with Jade, Joanne & Sharon

Further information about Psychotherapy

Whilst the terms counselling & psychotherapy are often used interchangeably, at The Clearing, we use them to differentiate between supportive, more here & now techniques (counselling) & deeper exploratory approaches (psychotherapy).  All of our therapists are trained in both & they will be able to advise you on the best way forward when you come in for your half price, initial consultation.

Psychotherapy involves a deep exploration of the issues that you are facing, in order to address them at their roots.  Conversations with your therapist may therefore cover childhood experiences, key relationships both past & present, the therapeutic relationship & dreams.  Your therapist will walk alongside you throughout the process, noticing the vocabulary that you use, any changes in your posture or body language when you discuss certain things & the themes within your story, all with the goal of getting underneath the surface & developing a deeper understanding of who you are, how you really feel & why then, you do what you do.

Making sense of these things helps us to go easier on ourselves.  We come to accept ourselves just as we are. We stop trying to be someone different & forgive ourselves for being human & therefore capable of making mistakes, putting our foot in it & having unkind thoughts.

In time this understanding & acceptance, helps us learn how to better handle our emotions.  We are less inclined to block off or ignore our feelings.  Instead we start to lean into them, asking ourselves what they’re telling us & knowing what to do to take care of ourselves while they’re there.  In this way we become more confident that we can cope with whatever life throws at us & we start to feel a lot more comfortable in our own skin.

The insight that we develop through psychotherapy can also help us to overcome negative patterns of behaviour, as it helps us to make better choices.

For example, if we come to understand that every time our partner is away, we feel insecure & pick a fight with them, just so we can test his or her feelings for us & therefore in a paradoxical way, feel somehow connected.  The next time they take a trip, we can make a choice to deal with this insecurity in a way that doesn’t lead to raised voices & hurt feelings, such as talking about it ahead of time with our partner & negotiating a way to handle it together, or finding ways to self-soothe, so that we can hold the feeling without it bubbling over into passive (or active!) aggression.  The more we practice the new way of being, the more this becomes our natural response & so our previous self-destructive patterns become a thing of the past.

As psychotherapy is about deep exploration, a strong therapeutic relationship is essential. Consistent & regular attendance is required to build this relationship & so you’ll need to meet with your therapist on at least a weekly basis. The length of time you spend in therapy will depend upon the issue in question, your goals & how deep you’d like to go.  There is no maximum or minimum number of sessions you will need to attend, therapy is very much a process that takes as long as it takes.