Bernadette Bustin
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This professional is available for new clients.
This professional is available for new clients.
About me
The difficulties I work with
Without judgement and with kind and thoughtful attention, I can help you to find freedom from your unwanted behaviour while we address any underlying emotional struggles. I am a Counselling Psychologist specialising in Addictions and Compulsive Behaviours. These can include use of
- Alcohol, Drugs, Eating, Sex, Porn, Love, Grief, Gambling, Shopping, Exercise, Gaming, Internet, Prescriptions, Social-media, Food, Nicotine, Work, Inhalants, Arguing, Rage, Barbiturates, Plastic-surgery, Caffeine, Self-harm, Tattoos, Risky-activities, Vomiting, Hoarding, Bingeing...
But whatever persistent behaviour is troubling you, there is excellent evidence to indicate that psychological counselling is likely to be helpful.
Whatever stage you are at
Whether you have finished a treatment programme or are still involved, or you are just starting to notice that you don’t have the control you would wish over your behaviour, or maybe you realise that you are lying about your spending or eating, please head over to my website on www.therapyacb.co.uk to read more about therapy and how it could help.
Acknowledging the impact
Addictions and compulsive behaviours cause harm to our health, finances and relationships as well as our general mental health and our sense of who we are. They can leave us feeling out of control and, when we have already tried to change but then gone back to our old habits, it can feel like we’re completely stuck. And this feeling of helplessness, and sometimes shame, can lead us to resort even more to the behaviour that we want to stop. It feels like a vicious circle with no way out.
But I’d like to reassure you that most people ‘grow through’ their addictive behaviour and it stops being a dominating feature in their lives. And for many people, psychological counselling is a key ingredient to making that happen.
What is a Counselling Psychologist?
As a Psychologist, I bring expertise on human behaviour, brain neurology and evidence of what actually works to help people. As a Counselling Psychologist, I also bring person-centred counselling skills such as empathy, compassion, patience and a kindness towards you and all your behaviours without judgement.
How I Work
I work therapeutically in a way that encourages your ‘inner system’ to remain in a calm state so that you can allow the learning and changes you want to take place. Unfortunately, we are often encouraged to just resist or squash our cravings and urges but this can result in us experiencing either a ‘backlash’ or the emergence of an alternative unwanted behaviour. This can be a different behaviour or is often transferred into OCD type symptoms. Because I help you to look at your behaviour in the broad context of your life, this is much less likely to happen.
I am now working from a therapeutic approach firmly grounded in the Internal Family Systems (IFS) model although I will, of course, draw on whatever methods are most helpful for a particular client. Please head over to my website www.therapyacb.co.uk to find out more about it. I have found IFS to be perfectly suited to work with addictions or compulsive behaviours and to be uniquely appropriate for dealing with the inner conflicts that are so commonly experienced. IFS offers a deeply compassionate and non-judgemental way of working that is both active and soothing. It also enables us to address associated difficulties such as anxiety, depression, helplessness and shame and to work with any underlying trauma or PTSD symptoms.
Respecting your whole life
Of course, behaviours such as substance and alcohol abuse, gambling, compulsive porn, shopping and binge eating often do not occur alone. We might find that we are taking drugs and also engaging in risky sexual behaviour or binge eating and lying about how much money we are spending shopping. So it is crucially important that we don’t just focus on a behaviour but aim to understand it in the context of you as a whole person with a past, present and future life.
I hope you find useful information on my website. If you have any queries and would like to talk through whether working with me would be right for you at this time, do please get in touch. We can arrange a 15 minute video consultation, without charge, to help you to decide. I look forward to hearing from you.
Training, qualifications & experience
Honours Degree in Psychology
MSc in Counselling Psychology
Post MSc Diploma in Counselling Psychology. This qualification granted Chartership with the British Psychological Society.
The Associate Fellowship with the British Psychological Society (AFBPsS) recognises extensive post-qualification experience.
My ongoing accreditation now requires that I am also registered as a Practitioner Psychologist with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) which is a guarantee to clients of my qualifications, training, ethical practice and ongoing professional development.
Alongside my private therapy practice, I have worked as a psychologist within the NHS for over 20 years. This has been in a range of settings including Substance Misuse; Adult Mental Health and across a broad spectrum of physical health conditions, including chronic pain, cancer, respiratory and sleep. My most recent NHS post is as the Lead Psychologist in an Adult Weight Management service.
I initially trained in CBT, Person Centred and Psychodynamic approaches. Over my career, I have completed significant training in: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT); Dialectical Behavioural Therapy (DBT); Compassion Focussed Therapy (CFT) and Eye Movement Desensitising and Reprocessing (EMDR). This year I have attended an extensive programme of Internal Family Systems training through IFSCA (Canada).
Member organisations
Being registered/accredited with a professional body means an individual must have achieved a substantial level of training and experience approved by their member organisation.
British Psychological Society
The HCPC are an independent, UK-wide health regulator. They set standards of professional training, performance and conduct for 16 professions.
They keep a register of health professionals who meet their standards, and they take action if registered health professionals fall below those standards. They were created by a piece of legislation called the Health Professions Order 2001.
Registration means that a health professional meets national standards for their professional training, performance and conduct.
Areas of counselling I deal with
Other areas of counselling I deal with
All Addictions and Compulsive Behaviours including: Alcohol,Drugs, Cocaine, Heroin, Eating, Sex, Porn, Love, Grief, Gambling, Shopping, Exercise, Gaming, Internet, Social-media, Food, Nicotine, Opioids, Benzodiazepine, Work, Inhalants, Arguing, Marijuana, Methamphetamine, Rage, Barbiturates, Plastic-surgery, Smart-phones, Caffeine, Tattoos, Risky-activities, Vomiting, Hoarding, Bingeing, Self-harm
Therapies offered
Photos & videos
Fees
£85.00 per session
Additional information
Introductory 15 minute video or phone call is free of charge.
Video sessions of 50 - 60 minutes at £85.
Walking Therapy of 1.5 to 3 hours - Further information on my website (www.Therapyacb.co.uk) but please get in touch to discuss.
In-person sessions at various venues in the location.
A small allocation of sessions at a concessionary fee. Please see my website for details.
Further information
Not sure about therapy?
If you are unsure about taking the step towards therapy at this time, please take a look at the Other Resources page within the Making the Most of Therapy section of my website, www.therapyacb.co.uk. Here you will find links to other information and self-help workbooks that might feel to be an easier first step.
