Bea Phillips

Bea offers Counselling and CBT Therapy for Adults

Through my counselling practice I hold a safe place for you to understand yourself more and talk about your struggles. Together we can unravel the past to help you to clarify situations you may be struggling with in your life.

I am also a fully qualified Cognitive Behavioural Therapist (CBT) which is an evidence-based treatment to help you change your unhelpful thinking patterns and behaviours that may be causing distress.

As I have practiced in Primary Care settings for many years, I am confident in dealing with Mental Health Issue’s that may be stopping you from leading a fuller life, such as PTSD, Trauma, Anxiety and Depression.

I have been a professional therapist of over 20 years, and I have also supported people and their families whilst working for Multiple Sclerosis (MS Auckland) some years ago, plus I worked as a volunteer at a hospice, so I also have an interest in working with Grief and Loss.

I draw on over 25 years of personal experience and training with mindfulness practices which can help to calm our emotions. Mindfulness practice can assist us to live with the current Pandemic has brought about by helping us to focus on today and to calm anxieties caused by change.

Prior to becoming a therapist, I worked in business and accountancy environments, both in London and Auckland plus I have supported clients through their Employment Assistance Program here in Auckland. This experience has helped to give me a good insight into the daily pressures of working in the business world which helps me understand the reality of my clients’ lives.

I also offer regular Supervision either face to face or online.

I specialise in:

• depression
• anxiety
• panic attacks
• Trauma
• work related stress
• social phobia
• grief and loss
• chronic physical pain
• bipolar disorder
• post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
• sleep disorders
• problem solving and goal setting.

Approaches and Therapy Models

Depending on the issue and goal for therapy I will use various interventions from my years of training and professional development such as: –

• CBT – can be relatively short-term depending on how long standing the issue is. It is a focused approach to the treatment of many types of emotional, behavioural, and psychiatric problems. However, sometimes longer-term therapy can help to “solidify” the gains achieved in earlier sessions.
• CBT is particularly useful as a practical method of treatment for a specific problem rather than just “wanting to understand yourself better”. To be successful, you must be willing to be actively involved in the therapy process and practice skills between sessions.
• EMDR – I am an informed EMDR   practitioner, and this fits well with some clients particularly if struggling with PTSD or Trauma.
• DBT – I am also an informed DBT practitioner which can be most helpful to learn ways to soothe emotions and learn to not react to impulsive behaviour.
• Person Centred – One of the most important factors of therapy is the building of a helpful non-judgemental relationship with someone who can support you during therapy. This in itself can have a healing effect on one.

Supplementing Therapy such as: –

• Mindfulness which helps to provide a way to calm the mind and can help with such things as anxiety, stress, and coping with physical pain.
• Problem-solving
• Coping Plans
• Distraction
• Thought Stopping

What to Expect in Therapy

Therapy involves the client and the therapist working together through a series of sessions. Sessions are usually weekly or fortnightly depending on the issue and the number of sessions required will depend on the nature and severity of your problem.

Treatment is individually tailored to you and your problem. We will develop a joint understanding of your problems and how they affect your behaviour, thoughts and feelings on a daily basis. Based on this understanding we will work together to develop goals and a therapy plan.

The focus of the treatment is to enable you to cope better with your situation and generate solutions to your own problems that have a long-term effect.  Plus, we will work more deeply should the issue require this. This may mean longer term therapy should funding whether private or otherwise be readily available.

​You will see greater improvement the more you can use the time between therapy for growth and be committed to sessions.

Your visions will become clear
only when you can look
into your own heart.
Who looks outside, dreams;
who looks inside, awakes.
– Carl Jung