Lynn Engler
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This professional has no current availability for new clients. Please enquire with them directly to discuss availability.
This professional has no current availability for new clients. Please enquire with them directly to discuss availability.
About me
Are you thinking about trying counselling or therapy, but the idea of talking about what's worrying you just feels too difficult? Does it feel too hard to find the right words, or any words, or even to say them out loud?
What if there was another way you could you tell a professional about what is troubling you and get the help you need?
There is! - If you can think of a storyline or character on TV or in a film that you can really relate to in your life at the moment, or a scene in a play or novel, or the lyrics of a song, or a poem, then Dramatherapy could be for you! And it doesn't mean you will have to act! - Read "What is Dramatherapy?" and "Will I have to act?" below to find out more!
I am a fully qualified, registered & experienced Dramatherapist running a private practice based in Norwich city centre.
I offer:
- individual Dramatherapy to adults and children/young people
- individual Dramatherapy to employees of companies with EAPs (Employee Assistance Programmes
- Sandplay Therapy (both within dramatherapy sessions or as a separate therapy)
I also provide a freelance Dramatherapy service to organisations.
What is Dramatherapy?
It is an Arts Therapy (you may have heard of other Arts Therapies such as Art Therapy, Music Therapy or Play Therapy).
I am one of a small group of Arts Therapists running a private practice in Norwich city centre.
Dramatherapy can be used in either a direct (problem-solving or solution-focused) way, using creative tools to take a fresh look at specific situations or issues, or an indirect way, using stories/metaphors/images etc, to provide a safe distance from which difficult issues can be explored.
Dramatherapy uses stories and story-making/drama techniques to help you to express and explore difficult thoughts & feelings in a safe and creative space.
It also incorporates anything to do with stories or theatre, including art, music and play.
Will I have to act?
No! (Not unless you really want to! And even then, you don't have to be "good at acting"!).
In fact, you might even find that Dramatherapy could help you stop "acting" in your everyday life, as it can help you figure out who you really are or want to be, aside from the roles you feel you have to play.
On the other hand, Dramatherapy can also help you to 'act' as in 'take action' when you are feeling particularly stuck in your life, because it will give you creative problem-solving and decision-making skills and enable you to 'rehearse' different scenarios before you put them into practice.
In fact, neuroscience has found that when we 'rehearse' something using our imaginative and visualisation skills, our brain actually creates a pathway so that when we perform that action for real it is a lot easier to do.
In this way, Dramatherapy can help and support you to lay the groundwork for making real changes in your life.
What else can Dramatherapy do for me?
Dramatherapy can help you with:
- anxiety problems (including generalised anxiety disorder)
- phobias
- relationship issues (including affairs & betrayals or separation & divorce)
- depression (including bipolar disorder/manic depression)
- anger management
- family issues
- child related issues
It can help you to:
- build up your confidence & feel good about yourself
- reconnect with, use & develop your imagination & creative skills
- find new creative ways to express your thoughts & feelings, explore difficult situations or relationships, or solve problems
- learn more about yourself and the people in your life, and how to improve your friendships and relationships
- try out different 'roles' or ways of being or thinking
- encourage you to develop your own ideas & try something new
- discover new things about characters from books/TV/films that you connect with & that you can use to help you in your own life
- process & cope with difficult feelings about things that are happening now or have happened in the past, or that you are worry about happening in the future
- support you to deal with big changes in your life or with losing people who are important to you
- help you if you struggle to know 'how to act' in certain situations or if you feel stuck or confused about who you really are or what you really want
What should I do next if I'm interested in Dramatherapy?
Give me a call, or send me an email with your telephone number, and let me know when is a good time for a quick chat.
I will then call you back and we'll have a short conversation in which we can make arrangements for you to come and see me at my Norwich city centre practice.
After this session, if you decide you would like to continue, we can arrange a regular session time and review things regularly to see how it is working for you.
I look forward to hearing from you!
Training, qualifications & experience
Qualifications:
- Postgraduate Diploma in Dramatherapy (2003).
- MA in Theatre Studies (2000).
- Creative Arts Supervision Training Diploma (2019).
Professional registrations & memberships:
- Registered with the Health & Care Professions Council (HCPC).
- Member of the British Association of Dramatherapists (BADth).
Training:
I am a fully qualified Dramatherapist (2003) & Clinical Supervisor (2018)
I am committed to continuous professional development and have completed supplementary training courses in the following:
- Introduction to the Solihull Approach to working with parents/carers & children
- Using Dramatherapy with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
- Working with Self-Harming Behaviours
- The Neuroscience of Attachment & Attachment Disorders: Key Ways of Working with Troubled Children & Teenagers
- The Body Betrayed - Using Dramatherapy with Children with Life-Limiting Conditions & Their Siblings
- The Burden of Shame & Guilt: 'Working Through' with Children, Young People & Adults
- Safeguarding Trafficked Children
- Awakening Attachment Needs in Troubled Children & Adults
- Mental Health in Young People & The Adolescent Brain
- Domestic Violence Awareness & Assessment
- Child Protection
- Protective Behaviours
- Life Story Work
- Caring for a Bereaved Child
- Working with Parents with Learning Disabilities
- Introduction to Sandplay Therapy
Experience:
I have experience providing dramatherapy to individuals & groups with mental health difficulties and learning difficulties, for large organisations such as MIND and the NHS.
I also have particular experience with looked-after children & teenagers, through my dramatherapy & consultation work with a national fostering agency and the local authority.
I have provided individual dramatherapy & assessment to high school pupils on both a private basis and for the Youth Service through Off Centre Counselling Service.
I have also run dramatherapy workshops for the Youth Service and Connexions and am a trained Youth Worker.
Testamonials:
"I just wanted to say thank you for all of your time and help. I feel much more positive and confident, and I'm so grateful to have gone on this journey with you."
Female, 24, former PTSD sufferer.
"I wanted to write to let you know that our sessions have caused much reflection and, in recent weeks, a succession of breakthroughs. Coming [into such a demanding period of my life] I knew I needed to evolve and become more authentic, however, it is with your insight and patience, I feel able to challenge myself more and gain a broader viewpoint. I had not anticipated such a baptism of fire entering [a new world at this stage in my life], however, the personal therapeutic journey feels such a safe place and for that I write to you with gratitude. Thank you."
Female in her forties.
"Thank you!"
Teenager returning to school after recovering from depression.
"Thank you for seeing me each week. I will miss you [when] I move. Good luck with the future. No.1 therapist! Hope you like this card Lynn. Have fun."
Child in foster care.
"I would like to thank you for your support and professionalism. You hold me and make the sessions a safe space where I have been able to explore and connect with different aspects of myself. We have worked hard and in depth. My time working with you has been very special, i know myself a bit better now. Thank you!"
Female, 42.
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.
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
Autistic Spectrum Disorder, Learning Disabilities, Looked-After Children/Teenagers, Fostering/Adoption.
I completed a one-year Creative Arts Supervision Training Diploma at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama (2018).
I currently have availability for Supervisees (e.g. counsellors, psychotherapists, arts therapists, play therapists, or any health or social care professionals) and can offer Clinical Supervision using the Creative Arts at an affordable rate, on an individual or group basis. I can also offer Skype Supervision for supervisees in other locations.
Please contact me for further details.
Below are testimonials from supervisees:
Individual supervision
"I found the supervision sessions with Lynn very insightful and helpful. It is clear Lynn has lots of expert knowledge and experience with a wide range of clients in the community and was able to give clear examples and suggestions that had relevance and meaning to my work.
I valued how concisely Lynn was able to help me understand certain theories in relation to the context of what I had brought to the supervision sessions which furthered my understanding as a DMP practitioner.
Lynn was very approachable and made me feel very comfortable and understood in our skype supervision sessions. I felt very supported by Lynn and would thoroughly recommend working with Lynn as a Supervisor."
(Dance Movement Psychotherapist, May 2019).
Creative Group Supervision
"Thank you for a really useful and illuminating space in which to think about clients in a creative way. It has added another element to how I approach client work."
(Integrative Counsellor, Female, November 2019).
Therapies offered
Fees
£50.00 per session
Concessions offered for
Additional information
Individual dramatherapy sessions are £50.
(This is in line with other Arts Therapists, as we are qualified at Masters Degree level & registered with the Health & Care Professions Council - HCPC).
(Reduced rate negotiable for those on a low income. Please contact me to discuss).
(Please enquire regarding fees for Dramatherapy Groups and other freelance Dramatherapy Services listed below).
When I work
I am currently engaged in full-time PhD research and supervision practice and am not taking on any new therapy clients.
Further information
I also provide a freelance Dramatherapy service to organisations and can offer:
- Dramatherapy groups
- Dramatherapy workshops
- Creative team-building, problem-solving or project development workshops
- Specialised Training Workshops around Therapeutic Issues (e.g. Understanding & Recognising Secondary Trauma & The Effects of Shame & Guilt, devised & delivered to foster carers & professionals working with looked-after children & teenagers).
