Depression

Depression is more than simply feeling sad unhappy or fed up for a few days or just going through spells of feeling down. When you're depressed you may feel persistently sad for weeks or months.

Some people still think that depression is trivial and not a genuine health condition. They're mistaken. Depression is a real illness with real symptoms; it's not a sign of weakness or something you can "snap out of" by "pulling yourself together" and needs to be addressed. 

Anxiety

Anxiety is a feeling of unease, such as worry or fear. Everyone has feelings of anxiety at some point in their life.

It's normal to feel anxious about something like a medical test or job interview. But too much anxiety could make you tired and unable to concentrate. Symptoms can include:

• Feeling worried or uneasy

• Having difficulty sleeping

• Not being able to concentrate 

• Being irritable  

• Needing frequent reassurance

• Feeling tearful

• A pounding heartbeat 

• Feeling sick 

• Headaches 

• Loss of appetite 

Abuse

Being assaulted, hit, slapped, pushed, or restrained. 

Emotional abuse: Threats to hurt or abandon you, actions stopping you from seeing other people, humiliation, blame, control, intimidation or harassment.

Physical abuse: Verbal abuse, cyber bullying, isolation, or an unreasonable and unjustified withdrawal of services or support in either the work or home environment such as being denied food or water, or even being denied use of the bathroom.

Sexual abuse refers to any action that pressures or coerces you to do something sexually you don't want to do. It can also refer to behavior that impacts your ability to control your sexual activity or the circumstances in which sexual activity occurs.

Stress

Stress is the feeling of being under too much mental or emotional pressure. Stress results when you non longer  feel able to cope.

The main reasons given for work stress include work pressure, lack of support from managers and work-related violence, bullying or intimidation. 

The way you deal with stress can lead to unhealthy behaviours, such as smoking and drinking too much or eating too much which might increase your risk of heart disease, diabetes or other associated conditions.

Anger

When you don’t express your anger, or express it at inappropriate times or in unsafe ways, it can damage your health your relationships and your career.

It could be that something has made you angry in the past and you didn’t express your anger at the time for whatever reason, that anger can then get ‘suppressed’ resulting negative consequences in the longer term such that you may find that when something happens to annoy or upset you in the future, you feel extremely angry and react more aggressively than is appropriate to the new situation.

Health issues linked to un-resolved anger can include high blood pressure, heart attack, depression, anxiety, colds, flu, problems with digestion, addiction and or self-harm.

Bereavement

When you experience the loss of someone or something, which was very important to you, it’s normal to find it very difficult to adjust. Grief can lead you to question everything, your beliefs, your personality, and even your sense of reality.

Bereavement is the time we spend adjusting to this loss whatever the cause. Grief, although normal, can manifest in a huge range of unexpected ways. Some people get angry, some people withdraw further into themselves and some people become completely numb. Sometimes, grief can turn into something more serious - like depression.

Talking about the loss often allows a person to adjust. Denying your sadness could prolong the pain. Any loss has to be acknowledged for us to move forward.

Relationship & Family Issues

People are naturally sociable. They enjoy the company of others and usually crave positive interactions and meaningful relationships. 

It's thought that people with satisfying relationships are likely to have fewer health problems and live longer. In contrast, those who do not have satisfying relationships or possibly many social connections often display a range issues including:

• Lack of trust or commitment 

• Betrayal or affair

• Jealousy

• Lack of communication

• Financial issues or work-related stress

• Abusive behaviour

• Different sexual needs or other sexual issues

• Family conflicts

• Different goals and values

• Different parenting styles

• Controlling behaviour

• Life changes.

• Suicidal thoughts

• Childhood trauma

• Challenges that might arise in relationships of people from multi-faith and multi-cultural backgrounds.

Loneliness

Loneliness can have a significant impact on your health. It can contribute to problems, such as anxiety and depression. 

However, loneliness is not the same as being alone. You might choose to be alone and live happily. Or you may have lots of social contact, or be in a relationship or part of a family and still feel lonely due to personal circumstances. 

Some people experience deep and constant feelings of loneliness that come from within, It may be that they feel unable to like themselves or to be liked by others, or may be lack self-confidence. This may come from having been unloved as a child so that, as an adult, they continue to feel unlovable.

Also sometimes people consciously or unconsciously, isolate themselves within their relationships because they are afraid of being hurt. 

Problems arising from work place. 

Often our  challenges and problems  have their origins outside of the workplace but sometimes it can also our relationship with it.

Levering the principles of transactional analysis in combination with my skills and experience gained in Industry over 20 years, I would aim be to work with you in order to help you meet both your personal and professional goals within the context of career advancement, career change and or possibly redundancy. 

Self-Sabotaging Behaviour

Applied for an internal promotion but didn't get it? Desired a high-profile assignment but failed to achieve it?  Disappointed with your expected bonus? Unhappy with your partner? Then you could be sabotaging your own career or relationship. Issues include:  

• Negative attitudes 

• Poor self-esteem 

• Avoiding challenging risks

• Poor adaptability and agility to work 

• Dependent behaviour 

• Resistance to change

• Lack of commitment 

Men's issues 

Men’s issues can refer to any number of concerns that may affect mental health or well-being. Statistically, men do not typically seek therapy in high numbers and sadly are much more likely to commit suicide as a result, generally they report very similar types of concerns as women but often fail to seek therapy due to embarrassment  or perhaps a false sense of masculinity.  Some typical issues might be:

• Intimacy

• Irritability

• Shame

• Fear

• Challenges related to fatherhood

• Abortion

• Miscarriage

• Childlessness

• Sleep deprivation

• Sexually related issues

• Infertility

• Work related issues

• Commitment issues

• Relationship difficulties

• Violence

• Suicidal thoughts  

• Depression

• Education Issues

• Boarding School experiences 

• Wages/Money 

• Domestic abuse

• Death in the workplace

• Divorce

• Work life balance 

• Masculinity

• Retirement

Women's issues

It is said that women are typically more likely to seek therapy and that they tend to gather more strength from their connection with others.

Typical issues might include:

• Shame

• Fear

• Challenges related to Motherhood

• Abortion

• Miscarriage

• Childlessness

• Sleep deprivation

• Work related issues

• Relationship difficulties

• Intimacy  

• Violence

• Rape

• Suicidal thoughts  

• Depression

• Education Issues

• Boarding School experiences 

• Wages/Money

• Domestic abuse

• Divorce

• Self Esteem / Self Doubt

• Body image

• Pregnancy

• Infertility

• Postpartum depression

• Discrimination

• Work life balance

• Career advancement

• Life transition

• Retirement 

Transition into Later Life 

Approximately 23% of the population are over 60, however predictable this involuntary transition maybe, its  influence on personal health and well-being is often overlooked. Typical issues may be :

• A missing sense of self

• Questioning ones role in life

• Changing family roles

• Finance worries

• Loneliness

• Sex

• Senior  Separation / Divorce

• Disappointment

• Ill Health

• Fear

• Regret

• Loss of Independence

• Being heard & seen

• Society Prejudice / conditioning

• Relationships (Beginnings & Endings)

• Conscious  ageing

Cross Cultural Issues, Mixed Relationships & Children

At some level all relationships are cross-cultural in that both parties come from different cultural backgrounds, even within the same family age and experience will produce differences.  However, when two people come together to form a new relationship, fundamental differences may exist and be accentuated perhaps by difference in regional, ethic and or faith backgrounds.

This can result in both parties looking at the world in very different ways and jointly feeling loyalty towards their own traditions while simultaneously trying to understand the others and accommodate them.  This can lead to tensions and sometimes, overwhelming feelings, which are confusing and difficult to resolve.  Children can often feel torn and confused in such an environment leading to a crisis of identity, powerlessness and sometimes low self-esteem, which can cause problems in later life if not addressed. 

Issues faced might include:

• Loss of Identity

• Poor Sense of self worth

• Under achievement in education or work

• Different aspirations and interests

• Different values

• Different ideas about Birth, life and death

• Differing views on raising children

• Disagreements regarding rites, rituals & belief

• Differing ideas about family, love and relationships

• Different ways in resolving conflict

• Different views about diet and alcohol

• Different social norms with regards clothing and what you wear

• Different views on gender roles and how handle money