Pauline Forde

I specialize in the treatment of unresolved trauma and relationship difficulties.               

We all have struggles in our lives; there may be present-day issues or difficulties arising from your past, which are causing you distress or leaving you feeling stuck. You may have low mood, anxiety, struggling in relationships or be experiencing symptoms of trauma.

If you’ve experienced an extremely stressful or disturbing event that’s left you feeling helpless and emotionally out of control, you have probably been traumatized. Trauma, including one-time, multiple incidents, or difficult childhood, will affect everyone differently. The impact of trauma can be subtle, insidious, or outright destructive.

Because we are all different and depending on what problem you are experiencing, I use a variety of psychodynamic therapeutic skills, including Art therapy, Emotionally Focussed Couple Therapy, and EMDR therapy.

A wide range of people can benefit from these psychological treatments, but no one type of therapy works for everyone. Different kinds of therapy work well for different people.

To help you decide if I can help you, these are the sorts of issues I have been able to help past clients with:

A recent Trauma or traumas from the past, A difficult childhood, Depression, Severe Anxiety, Panic attacks, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Anxiety disorders, Eating disorders, Phobias, frequent feelings of guilt and shame, Destructive or risky behaviour, Self-harm, Substance and/or alcohol abuse and misuse, Difficulty sleeping- Nightmares, and Suicidal thoughts.

                                            ............or maybe............

You are experiencing difficulty within your relationship?

Do you feel lonely in your relationship and lack connection with your partner? Are you stuck in a vicious cycle, getting into the same fight over and over again? Has the spark you used to have been lost in the day-to-day grind of living together?

Does your marriage lack the intimacy, closeness, and passion that it once had? Do you feel unable to communicate your feelings properly, because whenever you do, it always results in another row or emotional withdrawal?

Does your relationship lack an emotional connection? Do you feel unloved, insecure and no longer appreciated?

                                                      ..........or maybe.............

You are entering a period of significant change in your life and are trying to deal with adverse life events such as:

The Death of a family member or loved one, feeling overwhelmed by the diagnosis of an illness and injury, getting married, relationship issues, changes in circumstances and conditions of employment, workplace stress, financial problems, or any other significant life changes.

In all of these situations, it would be both healthy and helpful to talk through the problem that is on your mind to help you understand what is happening, and be able to move forward with new confidence.

If you would like to talk about the difficulties you are facing you can email or call me to book an initial appointment.

What is Art psychotherapy/ Art therapy?

Art Psychotherapy/therapy combines traditional psychotherapeutic theories and techniques with psychological, interpersonal and somatic aspects of the creative process and self-expression(Malchiodi, 2016).

The creative process is a fantastic way to communicate when words alone are not enough. By using art materials, we can express and release powerful feelings such as anger, frustration, anxiety and depression. These can be contained, transformed, or symbolically disposed of, through the artwork in a safe and non-destructive way. Art therapy usually involves some talking; however, it also relies on non-verbal communication.

This treatment can be beneficial for clients of all ages, from an array of different backgrounds and experiences. Clients may have a wide range of difficulties, disabilities or diagnoses. These include emotional, behavioural or mental health problems, learning or physical disabilities, life-limiting conditions, neurological conditions and physical illnesses. Some people feel this form of psychotherapy is less intimidating than Talking Therapy.




Art therapy for adults is particularly useful for individuals who feel distanced from their emotions and feelings. Some people find it difficult to articulate their painful experiences, without becoming overwhelmed emotionally and would, therefore, find it difficult to benefit from talking therapies.
Art therapy for children and young people, as it works with their natural sense of creativity and playfulness. Art therapy can be used to help children who are struggling to make full use of school life and academic learning.

Art psychotherapy can be beneficial when there are difficulties associated with low mood, depression, anxiety and those struggling to adapt to the impact of life events. The therapy can be used to deal with issues including bullying, parental separation, bereavement, identity issues, low self-esteem, exposure to domestic violence, neglect, sexual, physical and emotional abuse. These states of mind and experiences can be hard to articulate verbally.

What is EMDR?

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR).




Trauma Shatters lives if left unresolved

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a psychological therapy which is an extremely effective treatment for adults who have had traumatic experiences.

When we think about traumatic incidents, the obvious ones include life-threatening combat; crimes such as rape, kidnapping, and assault; natural disasters and a cancer diagnosis. The less obvious ones include the innocuous but upsetting experiences that daily life brings us. Examples would be ongoing emotional abuse or neglect, experiences of shame, humiliation, being left out, bullied or ridiculed and feeling not cared for(Shapiro, 1997).

The effects of trauma can be felt physically and/or psychologically. These symptoms include raw and intrusive thoughts, feelings, pictures, sounds, smells, tastes, and body sensations.

Exposure to traumatic events can become trapped within our memory network on a neurobiological level and are stored in subconscious parts of our brain. Trapped memories can stay stored as sensory memories, that are unavailable to our conscious mind. The memories are stored as sounds, tastes, smells, visual images, feelings and body sensations. EMDR therapy stimulates trapped information stored in the brain and starts unconscious information processing. Through treatment, traumatic events become less intense, less immediate, and more like ordinary memories. The traumatic memories are integrated and laid to rest with a sense of completion and control.

EMDR has been proven to treat Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and can also be successful in treating anxiety or panic attacks, depression, stress, addictions, phobias, sleep problems, complicated grief, and performance anxiety. EMDR can be a brief focused treatment or part of a longer psychotherapy program.

For more information about EMDRhttp://www.emdrassociation.org.uk/home/about_EMDR_therapy.htm

What is Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy? (EFT)

“We are never so vulnerable as when we love”

Sigmund Freud

Love can begin in thousands of ways – with a glance, a stare, a whisper or smile, a compliment, or an insult. It continues with caresses and kisses, or maybe frowns and fights. It ends with silence and sadness, frustration and rage, tears and even, sometimes joy and laughter. It can last for hours or days or endure through years and beyond death. It is something we look for, or it finds us. It can be our salvation or our ruin. Its presence exalts us, and its loss or absence desolates us (Sue Johnson,2013).

When couples and families come to therapy, they are wanting to put an end to difficult recurring conflicts, to learn how to persuade their partner to cooperate with them, to deal with the depression and anxiety that arise when the relationships they count on becoming ambiguous or painful, or, even worse, begin to disintegrate. Unhappy couples talk about the fights over money, the kids, or sex. They talk about how they have difficulty communicating and the solution is that their partner has to change.

Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT), founded by Dr. Sue Johnson, is a new way of understanding adult love relationships, drawing on attachment theory. From the cradle to the grave, human beings are hard-wired to seek, not just social contact, but also physical and emotional proximity to special others who are deemed irreplaceable. Also, attachment theory is essentially concerned with emotion and the regulation of emotion, and it particularly privileges the significance of fear. Predictable physical and/or emotional connection with an attachment figure, often a parent, sibling, longterm friend or lover, calms the nervous system and shapes a physical and mental sense of well-being.

EFT sees distress in relationships as centred in the loss of secure emotional connection, and that a negative cycle or “dance” is established when that loss of connection is experienced. These cycles are often characterized by anger, criticism, leaving, or appearing indifferent, to name a few. Once established, these cycles can crop up over the slightest issue, and over time be corrosive to the bonds of trust and security in the relationship.

EFT aims to help couples stop these negative cycles by first identifying and mapping out this cycle, then helping couples identify and articulate their needs and clarify their emotional signals in a way that helps their partner to have greater understanding, compassion, and responsiveness. In turn, a more secure, strong resilient bond is cultivated.

This process leaves room for couples to experience one another in new ways and can be powerfully transformative in relationships.

This is different than other types of couples therapy where you might be teaching skills, tools, and scripts to a couple to use to improve their communication. EFT folks are kind of under the impression that when our emotions are heightened during an argument, it’s too hard to remember those tools and they get tossed out the window. It’s really about restructuring and finding an understanding of why and how we get into those patterns in the first place so that we can interrupt them.

Emotionally Focused Therapy for Couples is a short-term (8-20 sessions) structured approach that was originally developed in the 1980s by Dr. Leslie Greenberg and Dr. Sue Johnson in North America. There is significant research on this approach and it has been found that 70-75% of couples move from distress to recovery and that the gains are sustained for months to years following the end of treatment.

For further information regarding EFT, please visit  https://iceeft.com/what-is-eft/

Trauma-Informed Couple Therapy

Sustaining a fulfilling and stable relationship is never easy, especially if one member of the couple has experiences of childhood trauma and now, as an adult continues to be affected by their experience.

I provide a form of couple therapy that is particularly effective in helping people address severe trauma within a relatively short period. During therapy, the client's partner supports them through their treatment sessions. This treatment can bring a clearer understanding of the effects of the trauma has on their partner. The couple becomes able to manage the anxiety, and their relationship strengthens, becomes closer, stable and their individual sense of well-being is strengthened.

For further information about my services please visit http://www.fordeassociates.co.uk/

My standard fees are:

• The fee for the initial consultation is £70.00, which usually takes up to 60-90 minutes.
• EMDR and Couple sessions are charged at £70.00 per session, which takes up to 60-90 minutes.
• Limited amount of concession sessions for children, adolescents and students available.

Payment should be made by cash or cheque at the end of each session.

Cancellation policy: Clients can cancel or reschedule an appointment anytime, as long as they provide 24 hours' notice. if you cancel an appointment with less than 24 hours' notice or fail to show up, you will be charged the full fee for the appointment.

The Health and Care Professions Council of Great Britain

All practising Art Psychotherapists/therapists must be registered with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC). The HCPC has been set up in the UK to help protect the general public when seeking advice and treatment from a health professional.

I am registered with the HCPC, a full member of the British Association of Art Therapy (BAAT) a member of EMDR Association, UK & Ireland and hold a current DBS certificate.

I attend regular supervision, peer groups and workshops to keep up to date with current developments in both Art Therapy and EMDR.

To check therapists' HCPC registration please visit: http://www.hpc-uk.org