Donna Curtis MBACP

Stane Street
Horsham
West Sussex
RH13 		South Street
Dorking
Surrey
RH4 2JU
View map		 Donna Curtis
07974 699837
www.beingcentre.co.uk
Click here to Email me

Profile

My aim is to Listen, not to Judge

Clients who come along for some counselling time, often find it can provide a safe, and supportive space, whether for longer term work or a short term basis. Often with a bit of space we can develop a clearer understanding of  struggles, difficulties and identify choices.

I offer flexible, mutually agreeable session arrangements in both the Dorking and Horsham area.

Working together usually includes face to face counselling, although support via Skype, or telephone, can also be made available. Feel free to call text or email me with any queries or concerns.

The aims of my counselling practice include, the building of a deep understanding of each client, and indeed a congruent respect for every client. 

With these, and other ingredients within counselling, clients can often identify what may be needed and wanted in their lives now and for their future.

Stressful lives, often leave us feeling angry and frustrated, without knowing how to get what we need, let alone what we may want.  Anger management, is a familiar term, though knowing what the angry feelings are trying to let us know is key, before trying out ways to mange the anger.  

Misunderstanding, and confusion around Anger and frustration can be responsible for leaving us with and creating a whole host of other emotive and physical difficulties.

Experienced in working with a variety of difficulties including the following:

Couples counselling, anger management, relationships issues, abuse, bereavement, psycho-sexual issues, eating disorders, anxiety and stress, depression, obsessive compulsive disorder OCD, sexual issues, child related issues, career counselling, low self-esteem / confidence, bullying and harassment, phobias, post and pre termination / abortion counselling, CBT, sexuality, sexual concerns, sexual relationships, work related issues, trauma, and body issues.

I work with a variety of clients, from all walks of life. Both privately and as part of funded contracts with public sector organisations, which mostly involves working with those who have experienced depression, abusive / violent relationships, and who may struggle with parenting.

I have extensive experience of designing, managing and delivering therapeutically based support programmes for adult individuals, young people and families.

I was one of four counsellors who developed the new online counselling service 'Beatbullying' an organisation delivering on-line counselling support to children, young people and adults who are struggling with face to face bullying and/ or the various forms of Cyberbullying.

I also run Dance movement / Body awareness dance classes, in the Surrey area. These classes provide an opportunity for exploration of any psychosomatic symptoms, whilst also promoting over all well-being, a sense of fun, playfulness and fitness.

Due to the pace of life for many people, in addition to face to face counselling, I currently offer counselling support via email, Skype and by way of telephone.

Improve Body Image

For most of us, there are things we do not like about our physical appearance, such as our weight and body shape. These things can often get us down. So what can we do to improve our body image perception and feel more confident about ourselves?

Practice self-affirmations

Self-affirmations are positive statements about yourself that you repeat aloud on a daily basis. Write them down on pieces of paper; stick them on the mirror, on the fridge, on your desk, by the bed, even under your pillow, anywhere they will get your attention, and when they do, read them out loud.

Even if you don't believe the statements are true at first, eventually they will trickle into your sub-conscious and become part of your reality, helping you to overcome any negative feelings you have about yourself. It is important you start and end each day with a positive affirmation. Here are some examples:

"I am going to feel good about myself all day"
"I feel very happy about the way I look"
"I have many things to be proud of in my life"
"Today I am going to achieve all the things I want to"
"My body is healthy, strong and functioning well"
"I can't wait for the next challenge in my life"
"I am going to eat healthily and exercise often to improve my health"

Ditch the scales

You only need to monitor your weight if your health is at risk from being underweight or overweight, in which case your health care provider should take of it. If you cannot resist the urge to hop on the scales, remember these points:

  • There is no 'one' perfect weight. There is no point in trying to achieve something that doesn't exist.
  • Weight fluctuates depending on the time of day, when you last ate, time of the month etc, so what's the point?
  • Ditching the scales will help stop you being so hung up about your weight - if you can't weigh yourself, you won't know what it is!
  • The scales don't really tell you anything helpful; in fact most of the time they make you feel disappointed. Before scales were invented, people couldn't weigh themselves - and they coped!

Remember, images in magazines and on television are not real

Stop comparing yourself to people with so-called 'perfect' bodies in magazines and on television. It is unrealistic to expect to look like them, in fact it is unlikely you will ever look like them – no one will because it's just not possible!

For one thing, fashion models are not representative of the population. Quite often they are stick thin and of an unhealthy weight, possibly suffering from eating disorders themselves in order to keep their weight down and get work. Clever camera angles, good lighting, expert make-up and airbrushing are used to get that image of 'perfection'.

It's just not real; no one gets out of bed looking like that. Similarly, the bulging muscles seen in men's fitness magazines are unobtainable for most men, unless of course they are prepared to spend 5 hours a day in the gym and make use of anabolic steroids.

High profile, 'perfect' looking actors on television have a team of people to cook for them, train them to get into shape, do their make-up and hair and so on, otherwise they wouldn't be able to look the way they do. Like models, they face huge pressure to look a certain way in order to get work.

For the rest of us 'normal' people, lets stop trying to look like these people. Let's concentrate on enjoying real life and the things that really matter, it's simply not worth wasting our energy on things that don't.

Focus on your health

Your body is a fine piece of machinery with astounding capabilities. Think about what you do for it in return. Does it really deserve the constant battering about not being good enough? Does it really deserve to have so much negativity directed at it?

Why are we worrying so much about the way we look when there are more serious matters to attend to – cancer, heart disease, diabetes, obesity, these are all things that pose an immediate threat to health yet we are more worried about the image we see in the mirror.

Learn to appreciate your body and concentrate on looking after it and keeping it healthy. If you give your body healthy foods and regular exercise it will reward you a hundred times over by becoming fitter, stronger and more efficient than ever before

Training, Qualifications & Experience

BACP Accredited Diploma Psychodynamic Counselling

CSCT Advanced Certificate Psychodynamic Counselling Theory

CSCT Advanced Certificate Counselling Skills

CSCT Certificate in Counselling Theory
CSCT Certificate in Counselling Skills

Dance Uk Member, Dance Mentor and Tutor

Areas of counselling I deal with

Other areas of counselling I deal with

Member of Dance UK, Dance Practitioner, working with body image difficulties, weight concerns, and self-esteem and self-confidence issues associated with one's physical body.

Therapies Offered

Fees

Sliding Scale in the range of £35-£70 Individually arranged with each client or organisation.

Further Information

 
In addition to working as a psychotherapeutic counsellor, I am also a practitioner of dance awareness. I run classes that can help people to address self-esteem and self-confidence difficulties by using dance expression. Dance and body awareness is a separate service to individual counselling and more details are available upon request by emailing me at tribalfusions@hotmail.com.

  • Online, email or telephone counselling available

Member Organisation(s)

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