Misophonia

I attended an excellent presentation on Saturday 11th September 2021 on using CBT to help clients understand and manage misophonia by Dr Jane Gregory and Dr Tom Graham.

Misophonia is a disorder in which certain sounds trigger emotional or physiological responses that some might perceive as unreasonable given the circumstance. Those who have misophonia might describe it as when a sound “drives you crazy.” Their reactions can range from anger and annoyance to panic and the need to flee.  The disorder is sometimes called selective sound sensitivity syndrome.

Individuals with misophonia often report they are triggered by oral sounds  -- the noise someone makes when they eat, breathe, or even chew. Other adverse sounds include. keyboard or finger tapping or the sound of windshield wipers. Sometimes a small repetitive motion is the cause -- someone fidgets, jostles you, or wiggles their foot.

For more information about Misophonia, see her misophonia website

Dr Jane Gregory is a clinical psychologist and doctoral research fellow at the University of Oxford.

Dr Tom Graham is a counselling psychologist who works at the Centre for Anxiety Disorders & Trauma (CADAT), Kings College, London.

Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD)

I attended a fascinating workshop with Prof Eni Becker on 8th September 2021 while attending the Annual Congress of the European Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Therapies in Belfast. It was good to learn about new developments for working with Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD). 

Prof Becker investigates the development and treatment of anxiety disorders as well as affective disorders. She mainly focuses on cognitive processes (memory, attention, interpretation), considering these appear to play an important role in the development of anxiety disorders. She is the chair of Clinical Psychology at Radboud University in Nijmegen.

Depersonalisation and Derealisation

I attended an excellent presentation by Dr Elaine Hunter at the Annual Congress of the European Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Therapies in Belfast on Saturday 11th September 2021. 

I have been using Dr Hunter’s protocol and guidance to help clients with depersonalisation and derealisation for several years. It was good to attend her superb presentation and to have the opportunity to engage with her at the conference. 

CBT for OCD during the pandemic

I developed OCD in the middle of my PhD which got worse during the pandemic. I tried to cope by myself but when it got so bad, I didn't eat or work anymore. I decided I should do some therapy. Sarah had been recommended to me and we had a journey together to accept my OCD and work to overcome it and live with it. After 20 sessions I live (nearly) as normal as before, I can work and I feel hopeful about finishing my PhD. I feel I cope really well with the pandemic. My mental health is even better than before my OCD developed. CBT is an amazing tool and is applicable to any situation in life! I definitely recommend working with Sarah using CBT!

(female, aged 28, virtual sessions, April 2021)

CBT for Depression and Anxiety

When I contacted Sarah, I felt panicky, down and exhausted. I had started to withdraw from others and felt hopeless. I felt flat although there was a feeling of being constantly wound up in the background. I have always been successful in my life and yet I just did not know how to deal with how I felt at the time, which was incredibly frustrating. 

I had thought that it was my life situation which was largely contributing to how I felt. Working with Sarah

I developed insight into how I was approaching my current events and how to make the correct changes for myself. 
I now feel so much more in control of my behaviour and thinking. I feel calmer and more positive. I am writing this during the third lockdown and yet I feel more resilient and better able to cope. 

(Female, aged 45, February 2021, virtual sessions)

CBT for anxiety and worry

When I started my sessions with Sarah I was experiencing severe anxiety. I had been under a lot of pressure at work and in my personal life for months and I had also had a seizure for the first time which was frightening. I found I was having a lot of intrusive thoughts which were disturbing and affecting my relationships with those closest to me. I was worrying about these thoughts and my mental health generally. When I read others' testimonials on Sarah's website it gave me hope that I wasn't alone and that I could, with help, feel better.

I found Sarah very easy to talk to - she is warm, and a great listener- and she was able to adapt the sessions to my needs. Sarah taught me a number of very practical techniques including worry control which really helped almost straight away. We also used other tools to help me become aware of and process my emotions, and to give my brain and body a rest. I can now control my worry, am no longer having the disturbing thoughts and the anxiety is much reduced. I find it amazing that I feel so much better in a relatively short period of time (around 10 sessions) and I also feel I have some great strategies to help me stay healthy for the future.

(Female, age 41, virtual sessions, Dec 2020).

CBT for Health Anxiety

When I first came to see Sarah, I had severe health anxiety. I had that for the best part of 13 years and it ruled my life. Within 7 sessions I noticed a massive change in myself and my mind. I never thought I would have a sound mind and a healthy, controllable level of anxiety. After engaging in 7 sessions of CBT, the therapy has turned all of this on its head. It has helped me manage my health anxiety and given me a far clearer rational mind. I practiced what I learned in the sessions. CBT does require a level of commitment, some weeks it was more than others.  

Working with Sarah was easy and collaborative. All the in-session exercises were well considered and appropriately selected for me. Sarah comprehensively explained the intentions of the tasks. Virtual sessions have been a good point of delivery.

I am looking forward to my future with a far more rational mind.

(Male, age 34, virtual sessions, Dec 2020).

EMDR for Fear of Flying - A Testimonial

Having enjoyed working successfully with Sarah on my anxiety issues, I decided to work on my fear of flying using EMDR. Before the EMDR, I had vivid memories of being scared on planes and sometimes when I experienced these it felt like I was actually back there on the plane. My fight and flight system had kicked in.  At that time, I could not contemplate flying again even though I knew it was holding me back from doing things, the fear was too strong. 

I have just finished my EMDR sessions this evening. When I think about those memories, I now feel relaxed. When I think about flying, I currently feel calm. At this point I feel I could go and book a short flight and try flying once again. However due to COVID-19 I have decided to wait until next year.

I have written this testimonial because I am impressed with how my attitude to flying has changed even though I am not in a position to actually test it out right now. I am looking forward to giving Sarah an update next year. 

(Female, aged 51, virtual sessions, Nov 2020)

CBT for panic attacks, generalised anxiety and health anxiety - A testimonial

I have suffered with generalised anxiety disorder and health anxiety for most of my life. I came to Sarah for help as things got progressively worse and I was experiencing intense anxiety. I would wake up numerous times throughout the night with my body contracting and feeling incredibly panicky.  My guess is that these were panic attacks.  I was up night after night experiencing these attacks over and over again and would sit there on the sofa feeling very frightened and wondering what was happening to me, not having a clue how to stop or handle these sensations and feelings.  It was a very frightening and distressing experience.

Sarah taught me how to manage my panic symptoms and very quickly the panic attacks soon stopped.  I cannot tell you how relieved and grateful to Sarah I am to be free of the panic attacks.  I gradually started to sleep better too.

After that, we concentrated on helping me with my generalised anxiety and health anxiety. I can certainly say that CBT and working with Sarah has helped me enormously.  I no longer have generalised anxiety disorder and health anxiety. Having suffered for so long with a variety of anxiety symptoms, it is wonderful to be able to manage my anxiety really well. Sarah is always professional, trustworthy and an easy person to talk to.  Thank you, Sarah, for your expertise.

(Female, aged 51, virtual sessions, Nov 2020)

CBT for Depression and Anger - A Testimonial

I had let pressures in my life get me into a bad state where I felt I could no longer cope. I had spoken to a doctor. I decided not to take medication but instead to take his advice and get some CBT sessions. I had no idea what this would entail and I had never opened up to a stranger before. So this was quite daunting but necessary. That was when I phoned Sarah.

Sarah immediately put me at ease. We found some common ground which we could talk about, which was a bit of a leveler and I felt I could open up more. Sarah listened to my issues and instantly came up with some techniques, which I could easily apply. I have learned how to change my thinking process and how to allocate time to issues when appropriate. Since doing this I have been able to sleep much better and I am definitely calmer. My family are back to seeing the real me. I can’t thank Sarah enough!

(Male, age 50, virtual sessions, Oct 2020)