PSYCHOTHERAPY  |  COUNSELLING

for INDIVIDUALS & COUPLES

The ways in which day-to-day life affects us are many.

There are a host of things which can linger with us. They can come in the form of doubt, regret, perhaps even fear. Some of these things can be named — people who we feel may have hurt us, the names of those we feel we may have hurt. Some of the things we feel or experience belong to words we've heard around us, from friends, or in the media: depression, anxiety, grief, stress.

Even for those who are (so-called) “perfectly happy”, there can be odd days where every effort is a struggle. Some people have a natural inclination — a resilience — to shrug-off these odd days and put them down to the ebb and flow of life: inevitable yet containable frustrations. For others, they may find that these sorts of days do not relent. The feelings held during this time build, like a snowball rolling down a hill, and become impossible to ignore: negativity, self-recrimination, remorse. They begin to blame themselves for how they feel, for what happens to them, yet secretly wonder whether they are truly at fault. Better still, they dream of having more control.

For those at the darker end of the spectrum, it is like being caught in a dance they never wanted to learn: a cyclical pattern of shame and persecution, affecting a sense of self, injuring their sense of well-being.

So what do you do?

What do you do if you are not feeling well?

You can talk with a therapist, like me, and begin to understand what lies behind your feelings. We can explore the patterns and ways in which you find yourself not feeling, well... “yourself”. Unlike the person with natural resilience, when we are not at our best we can have reactions to events, to other people which cause us to alienate ourselves from our friends and family - even from ourselves.

In a safe, comfortable, and private environment, we can focus on the aspects of your life which conspire to disconnect you from yourself and the outside world.

What's the goal?

Greater self-awareness. But also: greater durability against day-to-day tensions from the outside world. Ultimately, therapy provides you with more confidence as you move forward with your life, and the ability to see and understand the emotional and behavioural triggers which prevent you from feeling whole. It is a road filled with self-discovery, with an aim of self-improvement: feeling whole, integrated, and resilient.

This is what I do, and I am happy to help.

 

 

All site content © 2013, Matt Cahill