Gayle Creasey
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This professional is available for new clients.
This professional is available for new clients.
About me
Welcome to my profile which I hope you will find helpful. My name is Gayle Creasey and I offer:
- EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing) therapy
- counselling and psychotherapy for adults, couples and young people aged 5-20 years.
- Mindfulness and self-compassion training for adults and young people.
I have a private practice in Maidenhead, Berkshire.
EMDR Therapy
EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing) is an evidence based therapy designed to use our natural healing ability to overcome significant life events which continue to have a negative influence on our lives.
Together, we identify those experiences and work through them releasing the unhelpful thoughts, emotions and body sensations attached to those memories.
EMDR is best known for its effectiveness in treating post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It is widely used by the NHS to heal traumatic experiences.
EMDR can also be used to help treat a variety of mental health problems like depression, anxiety, or low self-esteem.
EMDR can be useful if you have witnessed or experienced an event like a car accident, a violent crime, sexual or emotional abuse, bullying, a social humiliation or the sudden loss of a loved one and are struggling to recover.
EMDR is suitable for adults, young people and children. Younger children can find it difficult to fully engage with some types of talking therapies, so EMDR can be an effective, simpler alternative.
Couples Counselling
All couples go through difficult times and struggle with relationship issues. Sometimes we get stuck in patterns with our partner that leave us feeling frustrated, upset and lonely.
Couples counselling can help you understand yourself and your partner better which will make it easier to interact positively with one another. Beyond learning skills like de-escalating conflicts and keeping arguments healthy and constructive, couples counselling can help you strengthen the foundation of your relationship through a deeper and more resilient emotional bond.
These are some of the relationship issues which bring people to couples counselling:
- frequent arguments
- blaming and criticism
- sense of isolation and hurt feelings
- withdrawing, stonewalling or distancing
- issues with intimacy and sex
- affairs and betrayal of trust
- separation or navigating divorce
- fertility issues
- adjusting to the birth of a baby
- cross-cultural relationships
Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) is a type of couples counselling. It has been applied with great success to couples struggling with problems in their relationship.
Research studies find that 70-75% of couples receiving EFT move from distress to recovery and approximately 90% show significant improvements.
I offer a safe space where both of you can feel listened to and valued and together we can explore what is happening in your relationship.
I offer daytime and evening sessions Mondays to Friday between 8am- 8.30pm.
Counselling & Psychotherapy for Adults
We can feel alone and separate from those around us, even family and friends, when we are struggling with life. Sometimes we cannot confide how we are really feeling for fear of upsetting others.
In a safe and confidential space, I offer you the chance to talk and to feel accepted and understood. I will not to judge or criticize you, or tell you what you should or should not be doing. Instead I will listen and try to understand what it is like to be you.
With support and a save space to think and talk, you'll be able to understand your situation better. With new understanding, you'll be able to identify your needs, desires and the first steps towards moving forward.
I am experienced in working with issues such as:
- anger management & aggression
- anxiety & emotional worries
- bereavement & loss
- depression/ post natal depression
- domestic abuse
- feeling sad
- family issues
- generalised anxiety disorder
- low self esteem
- relationship issues
- separation & divorce
- trauma & abuse
Counselling & Psychotherapy for Children & Adolescents
Young people have difficult thoughts and feelings for all sorts of reasons. Sometimes it can be difficult for them to know what to do with these thoughts and feelings.
Therapy can offer a child a safe and confidential space to explore how they are feeling, what they need and how to achieve their goals. Creative Arts therapy allows the young person to use art materials and play to make sense of their situation.
I have worked as a counsellor and psychotherapist with children and teenagers for 11 years, both in private practice and in primary and secondary schools with the Place2Be Project, YMCA and Cabrini Children’s Society.
I have extensive experience of working with issues such as:
- Anger & aggression
- Anxiety & emotional worries
- Bereavement & loss
- Bullying
- Depression
- Domestic abuse
- Feeling sad
- Friendship difficulties
- Lack of confidence
- Low self esteem
- Parental separation & divorce
- Self harm
- School difficulties
- Trauma & abuse
- Withdrawn behaviour
Creative Arts Therapy
Sometimes it can be a struggle to find words to express how we are feeling. Other times, we use words but can be left feeling that the full force of our feelings and experience is not conveyed by them. This can leave us feeling alone and separate from those around us.
Using the creative arts means that you, or your child, do not always have to rely on words to express what is going on inside you. Instead, you can use images and metaphor to connect with the feelings and issues affecting your well being.
Children and young people can find it especially hard to talk about what is going on for them and relying purely on talking within their therapy can often leave the child feeling that the therapy is stressful and ‘hard work’. By using the creative arts, I aim to bring a sense of playfulness, fun and exploration to children and adults alike.
What are the Creative Arts?
I work using drawing, painting, sand tray, clay, music, poetry and puppets. Each of these offers a way to externalise, explore and find a language for your thoughts and feelings.
Please be re-assured that you, or your child, do not need to feel creative or good at art. Using the creative arts may help you to find a new, unexpected language for what you are feeling and it is this language which is important, not being artistic. In some, or all, of your sessions you or your child may just want to talk and I will always be guided by you.
Mindfulness
"You can't stop the waves, but you can learn to surf" Jon Kabat-Zinn
People training in mindfulness report that as a result they:
- find new and effective ways of managing stress & anxiety
- learn to handle their thoughts, moods and emotions more effectively
- are better able to deal with physical, mental, emotional and social issues
- live their lives more fully
What is Mindfulness?
Using meditation, breathing and simple exercises, mindfulness helps you become more aware of your thoughts and feelings so that instead of being overwhelmed by them, you're better able to manage them.
Mindfulness has been called "affectionate attention" because it deepens your potential for kindness and understanding by cultivating new ways of being which are less about judging yourself and your experiences and more about noticing what is actually happening in any moment.
While the roots of mindfulness lie in Buddhist meditation practices, it incorporates recent scientific advances to offer a secular approach. It is a skill that anyone can train in and research shows that such training brings great benefits to well being.
The Benefits of Mindfulness:
Mindfulness can greatly increase our enjoyment of life and the things that really matter most to us, including our relationships and it can help us to appreciate the ordinary, everyday pleasures in our lives
Mindfulness has also been proven to help with:
- stress
- anxiety
- depression
- addictive behaviours
Mindfulness has a positive affect on physical problems such as heart disease, hypertension and chronic pain. It also improves concentration and attention, and strengthens the immune response, helping to defend against illness.
I offer one to one mindfulness training and run 8 week mindfulness group courses (MBSR/MBCT). Please see my website for details about current courses and monthly mindfulness half day workshops.
Training, qualifications & experience
I qualified as an Integrative Child Psychotherapist from the Institute for Art in Therapy and Education (IATE) in 2007 and have been accredited with the United Kingdom Council of Psychotherapists (UKCP) since 2009.
I trained to teach adults mindfulness with Bangor University in 2011. I became a certified .b mindfulness teacher of young people in 2014 and trained with the Centre for Mindful Self Compassion to teach the 8 week Mindful Self Compassion course in 2014.
I completed Level 1-4 EMDR training in 2020 and I am an accredited EMDR practitioner.
I completed Level 1 training in Emotionally Focused Therapy for Individuals in 2020.
My training to work with couples has been with the International Centre for Clinical Excellence in Emotionally Focused Therapy. I completed the Externship and Core Skills 1-4 training courses in 2018.
Member organisations
school Registered / Accredited
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.
The UK Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP) is a leading professional body for the education, training and regulation of psychotherapists and psychotherapeutic counsellors. Its register is accredited by the government's Professional Standards Authority.
As part of its commitment to protect the public, it works to improve access to psychotherapy, to support and disseminate research, to improve standards and to respond effectively to complaints against its members.
UKCP standards cover the range of different psychotherapies. Registration is obtained by training or accrediting with one of its member organisations, or by holding a European Certificate in Psychotherapy. Accredited by the Professional Standards Authority.
Accredited register membership
The Accredited Register Scheme was set up in 2013 by the Department of Health (DoH) as a way to recognise organisations that hold voluntary registers which meet certain standards. These standards are set by the Professional Standards Authority (PSA).
This therapist has indicated that they belong to an Accredited Register.
Areas of counselling I deal with
Therapies offered
Fees
£70.00 - £90.00
Concessions offered for
Health Insurance/EAP
Additional information
Individual sessions £70 per 50 minute session.
Couples sessions £90 per 60 minute session.
EMDR £90 per 60 minute session.
Please contact me to discuss costs of mindfulness courses and individual sessions.
When I work
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9.00am - 7.00pm Monday - Thursday