Jennifer Wickens

 

We cannot choose our external circumstances, but we can always choose how we respond to them.
– Epictetus

 

My aim is to support you to find ways to respond to life situations that make life better for you.

Areas of Special Interest

• Trauma
• Anxiety and Depression
• Couple and Relationship issues
• Parenting Support and Coaching
• Stress
• Grief
• Chronic pain

Counselling/Therapy Services

Talking therapies have been shown to be effective for people who are facing difficult events from their past, or in their present life, or for people who just want to understand themselves better. From my experience talking therapy is a process that is more likely to be successful when there is a shared understanding of the issue, an agreement with what you want to be different, and the practice of skills that will help you to get there. When I met with you, the first part of this process is to gain an understanding of the difficulty. When you are sure I understand the problem, we then define some goals to work on which helps to give the focus for future sessions. From there, we work in partnership to reach your goals by building up your knowledge of what might be behind the issue, and develop skills to address this.

Counselling/Therapy Approach

When working with clients, I like to use an ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy) approach alongside Feedback Informed Therapy. ACT uses acceptance and mindfulness strategies along with behavioural-change strategies to find new ways of facing current and old problems. Feedback Informed Therapy (FIT) involves routinely and formally obtaining feedback from you about the process of the work we are doing, the quality of the working relationship and your overall well-being. This feedback helps to inform and guild the work needed to assist you to achieve your goals. Interweaved into these approaches I might also use strategies from Dialectical Behavioural Therapy (DBT), Psychodrama or Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy.

Background and Experience

I have over 20 years experience working in the Mental Health Sector with a wide range of mental health difficulties, (including, developmental, psychological and neurological difficulties) experienced by children, adolescents and adults. My focus of interventions with this client group has included individual work with the person, parent coaching, and couple or family work when needed.

I have done further professional development in Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) and completed an Externship in Emotionally Focused Therapy.