Are we there yet?

Hi

This is my new website which is now up and working. So what? well it is a significant point on my journey.

I'm no spring chicken and it has taken me a while to get to this point with all that life had for me to walk through.

Born in the mid 60's but a child of the 70's polo necks, flares and Jaco roller skates, Beano and The Dennis the Menace Fan Club.

As a young kid I wanted to be a vet but eventually, decided I'd like to work with people. I remember as an almost teenager seriously bothering the couple who owned the local village shop and at least once a week asking Can I have a job? Eventually I wore them down and at 14 I got a Saturday job with them. I began at a local hospice as an auxillary nurse at 17 but then left college and home an went on to care for young people with various physical conditions which was a job I loved. Eventually I applied for nursing school as I felt it was a stepping stone to social work at the time. But it was there I stayed for more than 30 years. CBT Cognitive Behavioural Therapy was something I came across in the 90's and worked as part of a team delivering a CBT based service but as a nurse. I never lost my enthusiasm for CBT. Why? because I saw how it could change peoples lives.

I became interested in psychoeducation and set up some patient education classes in various jobs. Eventually when life allowed me to I was able to train in CBT and gained my Post grad Diploma.

This next part is me setting out to deliver CBT/ counselling sessions to individuals who are keen to change something in their lives and improve their quality of life. I also enjoy working with groups of people and have delivered CBT as part of group sessions in the past.

That old saying of when life gives you lemons make lemonade doesn't fill me with hope as sometimes the intention is to make the lemonade but before you know it the lemons have gone off and now you just have moldy lemons and no lemonade and can feel worse than before you got the lemons! We are all individuals we all go through things and react to things in our own ways, and sometimes it is unclear why we do this. CBT can be helpful to begin to clarify your thoughts and get rid of those unhelpful ones that are holding you back. Such as " See I'm a failure as I let the lemons go moldy!!"

I don't know about you, but I don't find scrolling through social media helps those thoughts at times. Some people can make things look easy and life looks good but for others life is not that simple. I do believe life is a journey and that the journey is as important as the destination and we can make our journey an enjoyable one or sometimes we can go off track a bit and before we realise it we are stuck somewhere along the path.

CBT is a good tool for getting yourself unstuck and starting to move forward with things again at your own pace.

Many people have tried counselling and felt it wasn't for them. I had tried counselling when I was much younger and I had found that it really hadn't helped much and thinking back it wasn't the right counsellor for me and the next time I tried it it wasn't the right type of counselling for my issues. However since then I have met and worked with brilliant counsellors who really do make a difference. I suppose it is right time right place right counsellor right type of therapy etc

Life's not simple and not easy at times but forget the whole lemon thing not everyone likes lemonade!

If life gives you chocolate that's so much nicer! x