Your Therapy Space

Accredited CBT and counselling Leamington Spa, Warwickshire and online

Stress and Anxiety

CBT Therapist, Warwickshire/online for help with workplace stress

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Is workplace stress a problem?

If you are busy professional in Warwickshire experiencing workplace stress, you are not alone.  High-achievers often find that constant pressure and long hours feel normal.   After a while, the stress can cause anxiety, and even burnout.  At Your Therapy Space, I offer Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) both in-person in Warwickshire and online to help professionals like you to learn how to manage stress and feel more in control of your life.

What Is CBT and how can it help?

Cognitive behavioural therapy is a collaborative approach to psychological therapy recommended by the NICE guidance for managing anxiety, depression, and stress. CBT can help you to understand how the interactions between thoughts, feelings, and behaviours.  It can help you to identify your thinking patterns and how these may be maintaining stress.

For example, you might recognise the following types of thoughts:

  • “I must work late otherwise I will let my team down.”

  • “I can’t cope.”

  • “I must not make a mistake otherwise I am a failure.”

CBT can help you to develop a more balanced perspective and develop more self-awareness.

CBT for workplace stress

If you are in a demanding role, CBT can help you:

  • Identify triggers to stress.

  • Consider realistic standards and expectations.

  • Develop awareness of and reduce overthinking and rumination.

  • Explore boundaries.

  • Develop resilience and focus .

CBT can provide a framework for making changes.

Why work with a CBT Therapist in Warwickshire or online?

I am experienced in supporting busy professionals through individual CBT sessions, available both  in-person in Warwickshire and online.

You may prefer online CBT if you:

  • Travel frequently or work long hours.

  • Want a convenient option without travel time and costs.

  • Live outside Warwickshire but want to work with an Accredited CBT Therapist experienced in working with workplace stress and perfectionism.

What to expect at Your Therapy Space

  • Collaborative approach — We define your goals together and work towards achieving them.

  • Practical strategies — You can develop alternative strategies.

  • Flexible and convenient delivery — In-person in Leamington Spa or online via secure video.

  • Confidential and professional support — From an accredited and experienced CBT Therapist.

If you’d like to understand how how CBT works, you can read more on my Individuals and Couples Therapy page. It outlines how Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and other approaches can help you. If you want to know more about online therapy, please read my Online CBT page.

Take the next step

If you want to book a session, please get in touch:

Email: info@yourtherapyspace.co.uk
Call: 07950 064 086


Your therapy space is waiting for you.

Workplace CBT and Counselling, Leamington Spa, Warwickshire

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Counselling and CBT for organisations in Warwickshire and online

If employees are suffering from psychological distress then this can impact on their wellbeing as well as their performance at work. Early intervention may prevent minor problems from becoming more serious.   I have a good understanding of how organisations work.  I have worked as a qualified Financial Controller in The City and have an MBA Degree from a leading business school.  In addition,  I have worked in the NHS and mental health organisations as well as in large businesses.  Please read more about me to learn about my credentials.

About counselling and CBT

Counselling and CBT can help people who are experiencing distress to talk through their problems, to feel supported and taken seriously and to learning some coping strategies. Timely support can help people to make changes and improve their wellbeing,  Therapy can help with the following issues:

  • Loss and bereavement.
  • Breakdown in relationships either personal or at work.
  • Stress.
  • Anxiety.
  • Depression.
  • Lack of confidence.
  • Perfectionism.

Depression and anxiety may impact on an individual’s ability to work and may result in job loss or taking time off sick. The cost to employers is significant. By supporting employees by offering counselling and CBT, the organisation is indicating that they value the employee. This can help to retain employees who may be at risk of leaving and save recruitment and training costs.

Please contact me to discuss your organisation’s needs.  Referring staff to a private Counsellor and CBT Therapist as and when needed may be a cost effective solution for your business.  Face-to-face sessions are available in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire and cover surrounding areas of Warwick, Kenilworth, Coventry and Rugby.  Many senior executives prefer the convenience of online therapy which is also available.

Other services

I have a qualification in coaching  which means I can work in a flexible way with individuals to help them to achieve their goals.  Further, I have been awarded 3 Masters Degrees as well as a Doctoral Degree.  I am experienced in making sense of complex information, formulating problems, carrying out research and proposing solutions.  I am available to carry out qualitative research projects of a sensitive nature. I am an experienced Project Manager and my research has helped to improve practice. Please contact me in confidence to discuss your needs.

Psychological therapy in Leamington Spa can help employees who are experiencing distress. If your workplace requires a Counsellor or CBT Therapist, I can help.

CBT therapist in Leamington Spa: How Cognitive Behavioural Therapy may help with anxiety

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Finding a CBT Therapist in Leamington Spa for Anxiety

If you are experiencing anxiety, you are not alone.  Anxiety is a significant problem which causes many people to seek therapy.  Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is recommended by the NHS and NICE guidelines as being effective in helping people overcome anxiety.

CBT is a practical, collaborative and evidence-based approach to therapy and it may help you to understand how your thoughts, feelings, and behaviours maintain anxiety.  CBT may help you to learn about alternative ways of thinking and responding.  It may help you to understand yourself and your triggers and learn how to reduce worry, panic, and avoidance so that you could start feeling more in control of your life.  Anxiety can make your life feel very small.  CBT may help you to live in a more fulfilled way.

How CBT Works for Anxiety

Anxiety can feel overwhelming and unpleasant.  You may experience racing thoughts, a pounding heart, muscle tension, or a sense of dread that something terrible will happen.

CBT may help by:

  • Identifying anxious thought patterns and thinking styles (e.g. “I can’t do this,” “Something terrible will happen”).
  • Challenging unhelpful beliefs that make you feel anxious.
  • Gradually face fears in a safe, structured way if relevant so that you can learn to handle situations.
  • Introducing relaxation and grounding techniques to help to calm the nervous system.
  • Developing a relapse prevention plan to help you after therapy has ended.

Common Anxiety Problems Treated with CBT

  • Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD): Persistent worry; muscle tension; difficulty relaxing; “what if” thinking.
  • Panic Disorder: Repeated panic attacks; fear of losing control; avoidance of situations.
  • Social Anxiety: Fear of being judged negatively, blushing, being embarrassed or public speaking.
  • Phobias: Intense fear of specific things (e.g. small spaces, spiders, heights).
  • Health Anxiety: Worrying constantly about illness or physical symptoms.
  • Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD): Unwanted intrusive thoughts and repetitive behaviours.

What to Expect in CBT Sessions

  • Assessment — Explore anxiety triggers & patterns and goals.
  • Formulation — Build a “picture” of thoughts, feelings, and behaviours (identify how anxiety is maintained) including how early experiences inform this map if relevant.
  • Skill Building — Learn tools to challenge thoughts & reduce avoidance
  • Practice — Apply CBT skills in between sessions (complete homework tasks).
  • Review — Consolidate gains and develop a relapse prevention plan.

Practical CBT Tools for Anxiety

Therapy may include the following:

  • Thought Records: Record thoughts, examine evidence for/against, and reframe them.
  • Behavioural Experiments: Test fears and beliefs in real life (e.g. going to a crowded place) to see if worst-case scenarios happen.
  • Exposure Therapy: Gradually face feared situations in a structured way with the aim of reducing avoidance and generating new learning.
  • Breathing & Grounding Techniques: To help to calm your body’s stress response when you feel overwhelmed.
  • Problem-Solving Skills: Break challenges into manageable steps.

Take the Next Step

If anxiety is affecting your life, CBT may help you to overcome your anxiety. If you are searching for a qualified and experienced and fully accredited CBT therapist in Leamington Spa.  I would be happy to talk with you about how CBT might help your situation.  I offer online sessions which can be arranged at a mutually convenient time to fit in with your schedule.  Please contact me by emailing info@yourtherapyspace.co.uk or ringing 07950064086.  I look forward to helping you.

It’s all my fault

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“It’s all my fault.  I couldn’t make you happy.  Everything I tried ended up with a ‘yes but…’.  Whatever I did was never enough.  It was all up to me.  You wouldn’t even meet me halfway.  It’s as though I was a thing and my experience didn’t matter.  It was all about you and always was.  I spent so much time trying to help you, I’m the one who has now ended feeling low and anxious and not good enough.”

I hope the above does not resonate with you and you have loving relationships in your life.  I hope you have relationships with other people where you matter too and where mutuality and respect and boundaries exist.  I hope that you have a great relationship with yourself and that you like yourself and accept the human condition and don’t expect yourself to achieve perfection endlessly.

We can be so self-critical of ourselves.  Always shouldering the blame and beating ourselves up to be better and do more and try harder.  Think about how you speak to yourself when you make a mistake.  Do the phrases ‘I’m an idiot’, ‘I’m a loser’, ‘I always mess up’ or ‘I’m stupid’ seem familiar?  If so, I wonder how you see these thoughts as helping you?  How is  having a cruel voice in your mind working out for you?  Is this self-criticism consistent with developing resilience in your life?

If you are struggling with self-criticism or perfectionism and want to make some changes but can’t break out of the cycle you are stuck in, please get in touch.

 

Feeling lost

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It is so easy to feel lost at times in life.  You might feel like everyone else seems to know what they are doing.  Other people may seem to be busy with interesting jobs or hobbies or travels or family and friends or all of these things.  And you might feel as though you are making it all up as you go along.  You might be wearing a mask and pretending everything is fine while wondering if you are messing up one thing after another at times.  You might tell yourself that you can’t speak to anyone about how you feel because you don’t want to worry anyone.  You might be the one who makes sure everyone else is ok and you might think that you don’t want to be a burden or to come across as self-absorbed.

It can feel very lonely when you are being self-critical or when you are comparing yourself to others in a negative way.  It can lead to sleepless nights, anxiety and low mood and depression.  It can lead to finding unhelpful coping strategies and you might even notice that you are eating more or drinking more.  You might have stopped doing the very things that might help you to feel better and have started to withdraw from others and/or your hobbies.

We can all feel lost at times.  Hopefully, it will pass soon.  If it doesn’t, it may be useful to reach out for some help to try and work out what you would like your life to look like and how you could make some changes to move towards this.  CBT and counselling can help you to do this.

Photo by Eric Ward on Unsplash

What if something wonderful happens?

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If you suffer from anxiety, it can be hard to believe that some people rarely worry.  When faced with an uncertain or new situation, the automatic thoughts for people who don’t worry are along the lines of ‘what if something wonderful happens’ or ‘I can’t wait to see what happens’.  People who don’t worry are often excited about novelty.

Do you find yourself thinking that you wish you thought like that and that every ‘what if’ you have seems to be about something terrible happening.  Worry creates anxiety and is very exhausting.  It can ruin our days, our ability to be fully present and then it can ruin our sleep and keep us wake at night.

I have worked with many clients who worry and find their days full of dread.  It is so rewarding to help clients to realise that life does not have to be like this and to discover that there are other ways of showing up in the world.  Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) has a significant evidence base for anxiety presentations.  If you think that it’s time to find a way to stop excessive worrying, please get in touch.

Image: Photo by Teodor Drobota on Unsplash