Lynda Foster
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This professional is available for new clients.
This professional is available for new clients.
About me
Did bad things happen to you growing up? Or did you have a traumatic experience as an adult? I specialise in strategies and support for people who've had difficult childhoods and traumatic experiences.
Difficult or traumatic events in your life can leave a legacy of impacts, including depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress, and low confidence.
This can affect how you think, and your ability to control your emotions. How you function day-to-day, including difficulty sleeping is common. You could feel constantly anxious and hyper-aware to possible threats. You might also feel depressed and spacey as if in a kind of fog.
There's nothing wrong with you - these responses are normal in the context of difficult experiences.
A way forward
But you don't need to be defined by what happened to you in the past.
Imagine if you had tools and support to help you unravel these issues, cope better with them, and just feel better?
How I can help
When you've had traumatic experiences, safety and trust are really important. In early therapy, I foster safety and provide strategies to help you develop emotional stability.
As we progress, the goal is to help you process your experience but not relive it. Wanting to avoid painful feelings is very common. I work to help you come to terms with your experiences and feelings about what happened to you.
In later therapy, I help you work on accepting your experience. But also separate it from your sense of self.
As we work on developing your awareness, feelings that there's something wrong with you or you're to blame, gradually become less powerful.
My hope towards the end of our work is that your past experience, has less impact on your present functioning.
And that you feel more hopeful and confident about the future.
Traumatic experiences I specialise in
Toxic relationships
Complex traumatic stress can be due to abusive family relationships growing up or toxic relationships in adulthood. Feeling misunderstood, manipulated, unable to be yourself, gaslit, and scapegoated are common themes.
If you feel consistently anxious, powerless, or threatened when spending time with family/or in an adult relationship. These could be signs of traumatic stress.
Having experienced toxic family dynamics myself, I can promise a safe and validating experience.
Family estrangement/no contact
Going no/low contact often happens following abuse (physical, sexual, or psychological) within a family. This means the decision to estrange feels like survival and self-protection rather than a free choice.
Feelings of isolation are common, especially as there is societal stigma associated with being estranged. Ambivalence is also common, as the need for self-protection is accompanied by a deep sense of loss.
With lived experience of estrangement, I promise a non-judgemental space for you to explore, process, and reflect on your experiences and complex feelings.
Stress & trauma in the modern workplace
Workplaces have become more volatile and stressful in recent years, which can often trigger any past trauma we've experienced.
At the same time, issues like bullying, harassment, performance measurement, or a toxic work culture, create stress and anxiety, leaving you feeling burnt out, fearful, and threatened.
Prior to training as a therapist I worked in a high pressure career for many years. I understand how stressful it can feel and have first hand experience of workplace trauma. I can help you to untangle and move past, the impacts of your experiences at work.
Reaching out for support is a big step. Why not start with a free call to discover more about how I could help.
Training, qualifications & experience
After years of struggling with toxic family relationships, I discovered the power of therapy myself.
I got myself trained and now have PG Diploma in Integrative Psychotherapy so that I can work with clients to help them overcome their own traumatic experiences.
While working with trauma during training, I noticed that providing clients with insight and normalising their experiences were important features in their healing.
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 National Counselling and Psychotherapy Society
This Not For Profit association of counsellors and psychotherapists aim to support the counselling profession, members and training organisations.
In 2013 the NCS register was accredited by the Professional Standards Authority under the Accredited Voluntary Register Scheme. Accredited by the Professional Standards Authority.
BACP is one of the UK’s leading professional bodies for counselling and psychotherapy with around 60,000 members. The Association has several different categories of membership, including Student Member, Individual Member, Registered Member MBACP, Registered Accredited Member MBACP (Accred) and Senior Registered Accredited Member MBACP (Snr Acccred). Registered and accredited members are listed on the BACP Register, which shows that they have demonstrated BACP’s recommended standards for training, proficiency and ethical practice. The BACP Register was the first register of psychological therapists to be accredited by the Professional Standards Authority (PSA). Accredited and senior accredited membership are voluntary categories for members who choose to undertake a rigorous application and assessment process to demonstrate additional standards around practice, training and supervision. Individual members will have completed an appropriate counselling or psychotherapy course and started to practise, but they won’t appear on the BACP Register until they've demonstrated that they meet the standards for registration. Student members are still in the process of completing their training. All members are bound by the BACP Ethical Framework and a Professional Conduct Procedure.
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.
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
Complex trauma/PTSD
Therapies offered
Photos & videos
Fees
£55.00 per session
Free initial telephone session
Additional information
*****Fortnightly therapy can be a more cost effective way of accessing therapy. Especially if you feel that you might not need weekly sessions. I currently have two time slots available for this: Wednesdays @ 12pm and Thursdays @ 2pm.*****
I offer a free 20min telephone consultation to discuss your needs. Please book this above or through my website.
When I work
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Further information
I look forward to hearing from you and welcome your enquiries about working with me. Please do email me or call and leave me a message. If I don't respond to your call/email straightaway it might be outside my working hours or I could be with another client but I aim to respond to your call/email within 1 working day.
I am unable to provide crisis support. If you are in crisis, please call the Samaritans on: 116 123 or NHS 111.
