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Hertfordshire > St Albans > AL : 1 > Angela King Name:   Angela King    I practise at:   156a Sandridge Road, St Albans, Hertfordshire AL1      Phone:   07739853335    Please quote 'UK & Ireland Directory' when you call      Professional    membership:   BACP  -  British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy   CPC  -  Association of Counsellors and Psychotherapists in Primary Care   GHR  -  General Hypnotherapy Register   UKCP  -  United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy        [website] I am an accredited member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (MBACP acc) and a United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy Registered Independent Counsellor (UKRC Reg. Ind. ) I am also a registered member of the CPC (Counsellors and Psychotherapists in Primary Care) and the GHR (General Hynotherapy Register). I undertake on-going training to keep my knowledge and skills up to date. I attend regular counselling supervision with a very experienced psychotherapist & supervisor, in compliance with the BACP ethical framework for good practice. My private practice, 'Insightful Counselling' is a professional counselling service accessible to people living in the St Albans & Luton areas. The experience of exploring your thoughts and feelings with another individual can relieve your sense that you are entirely alone with your problems. Greater self knowledge and understanding can enhance your relationship with your self and others and improve your sense of choice and self esteem. This in turn can cultivate the feeling that life can be enjoyed rather than endured. At the core of therapy is a confidential and collaborative relationship where the therapist guides the person on a journey of increased understanding. Therapy offers a relationship with the intent of alleviating distress and rekindling hope. Many situations in life leave us feeling powerless and a feeling of no choices. My hope is to help the person move from a position of self doubt or insecurity to one where they feel more in control; to give you back choice in your life and hopefully the confidence to use that choice. As my client you will be positively and warmly accepted for all that you are. I will see your world and your relationship to it as it appears to you. Counselling and Psychotherapy is for anyone who feels they have had enough of dealing with their problems alone. It is not always possible to talk to family and friends. Sometimes they are too close, too busy, they may worry and talking with them does not give you the confidentiality you may need. Counselling and Psychotherapy can help with a wide range of issues including: • Depression, anxiety and other mood difficulties • Relationship difficulties • Issues of confidence or self esteem • Identity • Bereavement • Issues around personal development and self change • Trauma • Sexual, physical and psychological abuse • Feeling isolated and alone • Mid life crisis • Loss Frequently asked questions How long is each session? Each session lasts 50 minutes What is the frequency of sessions? It’s usual to meet once a week. This allows you to experience a new view of the world and for you to begin to notice changes. However, I am happy to be flexible and meet your needs around your availability if weekly appointments are not possible. However, the frequency of our sessions will have an effect on the efficacy of the therapy. Sessions held at random intervals or long gaps in between will be less effective than regular weekly 50 minute sessions at specified times. How long will I need to be in counselling? This depends on your wishes and your needs and is something we can discuss at the beginning and review as counselling proceeds. What is the difference between Counselling and Psychotherapy? Counselling is usually shorter term and may be 6 - 20 sessions and it tends to focus on a more immediate life issue for example, a particular relationship difficulty. I would seek to help you talk about your situation, and to clarify your feelings. Often the chance to talk to someone who is independent of your social circle and who can offer a different perspective, is helpful in determining the best way forward. Psychotherapy is usually longer term and can be several months to several years. Most often a particular experience prompts the first contact: for example a bereavement, a redundancy, abuse, intense anxiety, stress, panic attacks, anger or disappointment. Yet people also come when they are not sure what has gone wrong, and may not have the words to describe the trouble they are in. It is as if they have lost all confidence and their self esteem has ebbed away. A psychodynamic counsellor & psychotherapist is trained to look beyond the presenting issue to a possible underlying cause. We cannot change the past, but pain can be made easier to bear with a process of listening and understanding ourselves. Counselling and Psychotherapy is facilitative not prescriptive. The intention being not to prescribe solutions but to assist you in examining your difficulties and the choices you have for dealing with those difficulties. With confidentiality and respect for your own perceptions of experience, you will be supported and guided towards your own solutions. About Psychodynamic Counselling Psychodynamic counselling uses the therapeutic relationship to gain insight into unconscious relationship patterns that evolved since childhood. Psychodynamic Counselling & Psychotherapy is based on listening, reflection and interpretation of dreams, and helps to make links between earlier experiences – often outside our awareness – and present difficulties, which can be better understood and worked through in a safe, reliable and confidential environment. The sessions are regular and sufficiently frequent to provide support and continuity, and to enable working in depth, which makes lasting change possible, Psychodynamic Counselling may help you with a wide variety of emotional difficulties, some examples are listed below: Assertiveness Bereavement and Loss Stress at work Your relationships 'Mid-life crisis' Panic attacks and phobias Anger and rage Sexuality issues Living with a life threatening illness Unemployment, redundancy, retirement Depression Anxiety Lack of confidence or self esteem Sexual, emotional or physical abuse Emotional or physical exhaustion as a carer Trauma, including Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Difficulty in accessing emotions A painful situation in the present may have its roots in the past, although we may not be aware of the connection. Once these links are uncovered, the individual can begin to experience greater freedom of thought and action, leading to an improved sense of self and positive change. Psychoanalytic therapies have unconscious processes at the heart of the work. The process of change occurs as clients become more aware of the power of the unconscious, including defence mechanisms, instincts and rules for life, to influence behaviour, and hence more able to control their actions and responses. Integrative Mindbody Therapy (IMT) IMT is an integration and amalgamation of different approaches and disciplines to therapy and human development. There are three main pillars on which this work is based: A. Hypnotherapy, Neuro-Linguistic-Programming (NLP) & NLP Psychotherapy B. Bodywork and Body-Psychotherapy C. Psychotherapy (humanistic, psychodynamic, and Self-Relations) IMT places much importance and focus on the therapeutic relationship, together with an awareness that, within the therapeutic fields, all the patterns – past and present will manifest. This presents us with an opportunity to work with, and bring about change and acceptance to the building blocks that made us who we are. It means that safety of boundaries, clear frame of work and a space of reality, authenticity and humanity are being created and encouraged. Within this space, we are together – working for you. I cannot fix you or change you and I will never know you more than you know yourself, but I am a curious and willing explorer, and I will walk with you into the unknown without shying away, and encourage both the light and shadow to be owned and shown. Bodywork elements may include touch – either to support and hold, to challenge or to structurally create more space and help you ‘inhabit’ yourself more fully. These can include deep massage strokes. However, the main impact of bodywork and body-psychotherapy on IMT is in the basic premise that the bodymind is an organic unit, and the physical, mental and psychological dynamics are all intertwined. Our organism strives for aliveness, integration, agility and expression – and we will work towards this. Psychotherapeutic influences recognise that relationship is a basic human pattern, and we will work towards cultivating an honest and kind way of relating to yourself and others. Other influences for the creating of IMT include stress-management, Gestalt, Provocative Therapy, Systemic Therapy, Jungian Analysis, Storytelling NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) NLP presupposition: 'People are not broken, they work perfectly'. Very simply, NLP describes a communication and human functioning model. How we use and make meaning of language, the effect this has on our experience of our lives, the roles we play and how we operate are highlighted. We all make 'maps' of how we experience the world and 'programmes' of our behaviour. Dealing with the world indirectly through our maps and programmes, we operate at a different logical level. That is, our programmes guide our reactions and behaviour rather than dealing with the world directly. By allowing the individual to become aware of their relevant programmes, the opportunity to change the way they experience the world by changing their programmes is demonstrated. This is done through simple, practical mind tools which can be easily adopted by the individual to instigate desired changes. NLP thus encourages independence from the therapist, as the individual continues making positive changes through various NLP techniques learnt from the therapist. NLP has several understandings and attitudes (presuppositions) about human functioning, one of which is shown below the title above. These presuppositions distinguish NLP from other models of psychology and they are all true except when someone is suffering from neurological brain damage. The following are a few of the presuppositions used in NLP: The meaning of your communication is the response you get Choice is better than no choice People already have all the resources they need There is no such thing as failure, only feedback People respond to their map of reality NLP has revolutionised the way we work with people through simple, effective tools learnt by the individual and used by him & her in everyday life. It is a brief therapy and one which often boasts amazingly quick results from previously thought useless situations. Hypnotherapy Hypnotherapy is a safe, effective branch of psychotherapy. Through simple techniques that can be learnt easily, it uses hypnosis for therapeutic change by accessing the subconscious mind during trance. Trance is the basis for practicing the art of hypnosis. We enter trance frequently each day, for example, you may have been driving home when your conscious mind comes back into control and you realise you have arrived home with little recollection of how you got there. This is one example of the unconscious mind taking over to direct behaviour that would otherwise be conscious. Another example is when people comment of being 'in a daze' or 'daydreaming'. This is simply trance. Trance is a normal, pleasurable and useful state. Although we go into trance every day, the difference between the examples above and the trance you experience with a therapist is that with the latter you are being safely guided into trance with a distinct beneficial purpose. Your unconscious mind opens itself to receiving positive information directly and uncritically from the therapist. The subconscious is where many problems lie: it decides whether to put that cigarette or biscuit in your mouth before you are aware of making the decision. By communicating with your unconscious mind during hypnosis you can make changes you have wished for- and enjoy yourself. During Hypnosis you will feel relaxed, comfortable and pleasantly light headed. This feeling can continue for a few days and you may notice how much more comfortable you are at work and socially. Whatever your experience, it will be good. Being in a trance can be described as similar to the feeling you get upon awaking and just before you drift off to sleep. It is a subtle, gentle feeling and you are always in control and aware. You can never be made to do anything against your will. You can open your eyes and stop the session whenever you wish. Hypnosis is a wonderful and uplifting experience and offers many benefits. In conjunction with NLP and IMT it makes for a very powerful tool in instigating positive change. Embodied Relational Therapy This type of therapy gives great respect to the client's process- the client is in charge of what is going on. Although each session will vary, depending on the needs of each individual, I try to bring a sense of the client's own ability to trust themselves and their own strengths. As embodied beings we have a natural instinct to reach out and grow towards life and light, and the human energy system works on the principle of a creative and unending flow of energy to unite mind, body & spirit. This model looks at how we have learnt to relate to ourselves, others and the environment and how we also manifest our history and relationships in our bodies. What the person experiences as a difficulty or problem is seen as a signal of emerging needs and an attempt to change. A symptom, in this sense, contains both the meaning and the direction of the process that is trying to unfold. I believe the therapeutic relationship is about creating the conditions of safety to follow this process and allow it to express itself - so it can be understood, integrated, completed, or changed. The exploration can develop through talking, movement, creative expression, or body work depending on what emerges and feels safe and appropriate at each stage. I also believe that 'expertise' and 'wisdom' lie within the individuals and within the field of which they are a part, although they may be more or less accessible. Trust in this and that we are innately resourceful is fundamental to the way I work. Bodywork explores amongst other things; gesture, posture, breath, internal body awareness, spontaneous movement, pains and illness. I believe in the importance of going slowly. At times of change in our lives, it is often helpful to talk through problems with another person, and to gain support for those processes which we have begun. Qualifications & Training MBACP Accredited, UKRC Reg. CPC Reg. GHR reg. MSc Counselling, PG Dip Integrative Counselling, Dip Psychodynamic Counselling, Cert Integrative Mindbody Therapy, NLP master practitioner, Diploma Stress Management, Diploma Embodied Relational Therapy. Experience Over 12 years working in primary care setting and private practice. Fees The fee for each session costs £30 to £50 (negotiable). Some low rates for students may be available. A session is 50 minutes. initial assessment is charged at the session rate. Key words for this entry: Individual Counselling, Adults, Elderly, Men, Women, Long-term, Short-term, Single sessions, Time-limited, Face-to-face, Supervision, Concessionary rates, Low-cost sessions, General counselling, Behavioural, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Counselling, Dream work, Ericksonian, Existential, Freudian, Gestalt, Humanistic, Hypnosis, Hypnotherapy, Integrative, Jungian, Mindfulness, Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP), Person-centred, Personal Construct, Psychodynamic, Psychotherapy, Relaxation, Solution-focused, Stress management, Time Line, Transactional Analysis, Visualisation.