Lee Roethenbaugh
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This professional is available for new clients.
This professional is available for new clients.
About me
Welcome. I am a Humanistic & Integrative Psychotherapist offering psychotherapy and counselling in private practices in Bath and Bradford on Avon.
Please see lower down the page for couples therapy and group work
Individual therapy
Sustaining our inner selves and living the life we want to live can be challenging in today's complex and uncertain world. Psychotherapy can help you through a difficult time whether it’s due to stress, relationship or work issues or persistent feelings of dissatisfaction and disappointment. You might feel overwhelmed, angry, anxiety, distress or find difficulty coping with aspects of life. I believe that when we understand more about ourselves we have greater choice and freedom in our lives.
People come into therapy with a story of who they believe themselves to be . The process of psychotherapy can help you write a better story of who you really are, an owned narrative of who you were really meant to be.
In a process where the cornerstones are collaboration, compassion, support and imagination we will listen closely to how you think about problems and how ingrained patterns may be affecting your efforts to find solutions. By exploring thoughts, ideas and feelings together, and being curious about what lays behind them, the process of psychotherapy can help to deal with emotional and relational problems to live a more satisfying and fulfilling life.
Exploration and awareness can be gentle and slow, and at other times more challenging. I believe this works best when accompanied by a compassionate and supportive individual , prepared to get alongside you in whatever dilemmas life is bringing up. My intention is to help you connect with the deep roots of your experience and live from an expanded and enlivened sense of self.
So what happens next?
If this resonates with you, just send me an email or call me directly.
We will arrange an initial meeting to explore whether psychotherapy is right for you. If we decide to work together we will arrange to meet weekly for a 50 minute session and think together about what feels right in terms of the length of the therapy. My intention is to help you connect with the deep roots of your experience and guide you to a successful outcome and resolution.
I work primarily in-person at two locations but also offer online and telephone sessions if preferred.
Couples therapy
Couples therapy can help in finding ways to break cycles of tension and conflict and to explore possibilities for building connection, restoring aliveness and cultivating intimacy.
Each relationship will have its own story to tell – from the initial attractions, sharing and intimacy to the disappointments, misunderstandings and ruptures in trust that may have occurred along the way. Partners in a long-term relationship are often able to evoke powerful feelings in each other, something that can fuel the potency and passion, but at times may also result in confusion and conflict. It’s not unusual for the ups and downs of life to take its toll and it can be hard to find the time and energy to nurture relationships in the way they deserve. Some couples will seek support for their relationship because they feel stuck and are struggling to find a way forward, whilst others may be looking to build on what they have, a sort of relationship ‘keep fit’.
Establishing a safe and respectful therapeutic space is a cornerstone of couples therapy; this doesn’t mean that the process won’t at times feel challenging – there’s no magic wand and exploring the reactive behaviours and underlying emotions that contribute to conflict and disconnect are an important part of the work.
How individuals relate to others, particularly in longer-term intimate relationships, is also influenced by a broader background. We learn ways of being in relationship from our earliest experiences -our parents, wider family, culture, education, friendships will have shaped the way we relate to others – our expectations, ways of coping and protecting ourselves, how we communicate and attempt to get our relational needs met.
Paying attention to both the problems and the strengths of the relationship is part of the couple-work process; along with identifying and exploring repetitive negative cycles of interaction and the communication styles, emotions and behaviours that contribute towards maintaining unhelpful patterns.
Groups - Pesso Boyden therapy
This approach is designed to help uncover and address hidden emotional patterns and beliefs that continue to influence your present-day experiences. The aim is to offer a healing experience that feels emotionally satisfying, filling in the gaps left by past experiences. This can provide fresh perspectives on current challenges and offer you greater clarity and choice going forward.
One of the greatest advantages PBSP has over other interactive therapies such as drama therapy or family constellations, is that it offers clients complete control. Other interactive therapies generally rely on a group process in which all of the individuals in the group are simultaneously using the process for what they believe to be in their own best interest. By contrast, in PBSP therapy only one person at a time has a session, which is called a “Structure.”
During the “structure”, clients have the opportunity to access, express, and address their innermost feelings and needs in a safe environment. Structures are generally conducted in a group, but each structure is tailored to the individual needs of one person at a time, while the other group members offer support by playing roles or otherwise contributing to the structure.
Other techniques learned in Pesso Boyden therapy include ‘accommodation’, a role-playing skill that is used to satisfy requests of the person in treatment, and polarisation, a technique that helps people work to clarify ambivalent feelings. Most forms of psychotherapy involve a therapist who takes charge of the session, but Pesso Boyden therapy differs in that therapists are directed by the people in their care. This allows the client to maintain a sense of control as they receive the help they need and explore new or previously unconsidered aspects of the self. The therapist typically asks the person in treatment to speak about the issues being experienced experiencing, gradually using respectful questioning to help uncover the underlying causes of these concerns.
As the structure progresses, the therapist works with the individual to keep track of body sensations, emotions, verbal expressions, internalised commands, and core beliefs. Once the individual recalls an emotionally charged memory of a time when a basic childhood need was not satisfied, the therapist asks for permission to recreate an external scene of that memory. Group members may offer or be asked to play the role of the affected individual’s parents, former caregivers, or any other important “characters” in the past memory.”
What if I'm too nervous to join a group?
I can offer 1-1 Pesso Boyden therapy. This is an adapted version, where we will use imagination, placeholders and objects or ‘figures in the air’ to represent the roles typically played by group members. This would give you some of the benefits and a good introduction to the method. I’d be happy to talk about an introduction to Pesso Boyden and how we could bring it into your healing journey.
Training, qualifications & experience
Masters Degree in Humanistic and Integrative Psychotherapy (Middlesex University)
Professional Diploma in Humanistic and Integrative Psychotherapy (Bath Centre for Psychotherapy & Counselling)
I am also a qualified psychotherapist in Pesso Boyden Therapy - a mind-body based psychotherapy which is highly effective with trauma and works individually and in groups. Traditional therapies help a client cope with their past. In Pesso Boyden, using imagined 'ideal figures' or people playing these roles, PBSP creates 'antidotes' to the past and what happened and creates new memories of how life could have been. Excellent for attachment injuries, anxieties, PTSD, developmental trauma, parentification, 'over responsibility' and other deep seated issues, that lead to an 'earned secure attachment'.
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
Other areas of counselling I deal with
Men’s issues- an interest and extensive experience with issues that men face : Isolation, masculininty issues, male initiation (lack of), lack of fathering, anger
anxiety
generalised anxiety disorder
Climate anxiety/grief p>grief
loss
Isolation
trauma
Panic attacks
Family issues
Feeling sad
Grief
Disconnection
Mourning
Fear
Obsessions
Rumination
Indecisiveness
Suicidal thoughts
Childhood issues
Therapies offered
Photos & videos
Fees
£60.00 per session
Additional information
Individuals:
£60 per 50 minute session
£35 for initial session
Some lower cost places available please enquire
Couples therapy:
£90 for a 50 minute session
Pesso Boyden therapy - contact me for group fees.
For 1-1 £70 per Pesso Boyden individual session (60 mins)
When I work
Week days and evenings and some weekends (groups)
Further information
If you wish to make an appointment, or ask me any questions, you may use the contact form at the top of my profile or by calling me on 07834467330
