Phoebe Weiland

Do you feel anxious, depressed or ‘stuck’? Perhaps you are struggling to move on from difficult experiences, feel overwhelmed or in constant physical pain.  Or maybe you'd just like a calm space to untangle your thoughts. I use a wide range of tried and tested counselling and meditative techniques to help you feel more hopeful and calm right from the first session. 

Good therapy helps you move past problems and meet your emotional and practical needs

We often have competing voices in our head - some led by our rational, thinking self, others by powerful emotions. When life gets difficult, emotion can overwhelm us and block our ability to problem solve. Think of therapy as ‘borrowing someone’s brain’ for while to help you step outside your thoughts and feelings and see things from another perspective. This way you can identify which voice you choose to listen to and how to take back control. 

Therapists trained in the Human Givens approach focus on what is preventing a distressed person from getting their emotional and practical needs met. We use a variety of up to date psychological methods and tools, focussed on problem solving and developing new life skills. One important tool is the Emotional Needs Audit, which is a short questionnaire containing ten key areas for emotional health. Why not take a look at this for yourself to see how well your needs are being met? Here is the URL to cut and paste into your own browser:

(https://www.hgi.org.uk/sites/default/files/hgi/Emotional-Needs-Audit.pdf)

This is a great way to assess where your life might be improved and will be the starting point for any work we do.

Our work together can help to:

• Reduce Anxiety  - which may show as stress, panic attacks, fears or phobias
• Break the cycle of depression – and wake up feeling life is meaningful again
• Resolve Trauma – including Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
• Manage Anger – which can damage your health and cause distress to those you love
• Stop addictive behaviours – all forms of compulsion and addiction can be alleviated
• Harmonise relationships – to help stay together or bring about healthy change.

Feel better quickly

You should feel more optimistic after every appointment.  Although I will need to know something about your past to understand your present, our work will always be about the future and how to get you up and running again as quickly as possible. Research published by the British Psychological Society concluded that Human Givens therapy is “highly effective’ and that three out of four Human Givens clients were ‘either symptom free or reliably changed after an average of 4-6 sessions.’ 

How sessions work 

The first meeting starts out with me finding out about you and your life and the difficulties you are experiencing. You will have filled out an Emotional Needs Audit to provide a starting point for this conversation. More often than not, right from the first session we will also begin using relaxation methods to provide you with immediate relief from psychological distress.

From here we will work out achievable and realistic goals to focus on, starting with small manageable steps and continuing at a pace that suits you. As well as activating your own resources to meet these goals, you may develop new skills – such as how to quickly defuse panic, feel more comfortable in social situations or simply improve your sleep.  At the end of this discussion you may be invited to take a few moments to relax and reflect on the thinking you have done and to imagine putting new ideas into practice.

Treatment ends when you’re happy you have made enough progress to continue living a healthy life without regular assistance from me. 

Our body often reflects our emotional state

Many of us have physical symptoms which are fuelled by our thoughts and feelings. This may be anything from a 'nervous tummy' (IBS) to joint or muscle pain, headaches or feelings of exhaustion. Sometimes our body is telling us something our mind finds hard to face. When the two are helped to connect and communicate with each other properly, solutions are found and symptoms often disappear.

Pain is often fuelled by strong emotions such as  stress, anger or depression. Learning to manage these feelings can have a huge impact on helping you become more comfortable, so you can return to your normal activities.

How to get started 

If you would like to know more, please email me at phoebeweiland.therapy@gmail.com or feel free to give me a call on T: 07873 972120. This way I can give you some idea of the kind of work we might do together straight away.

Training and qualifications

I am a fully accredited member of the UK Council of Psychotherapy. I trained with the Human Givens Institute  and the National College of Hypnosis & Psychotherapy. I have a special interest in gut-directed psychotherapy, chronic pain management, trauma and healthy eating as well as the use of hypnosis for childbirth (‘hypno-birthing’). I have worked directly with victims of domestic, workplace and sexual abuse. 

What is Human Givens Therapy?

Although we are all unique individuals, all humans are born with (or are ‘given’) the same basic physical and emotional needs: physical needs such as for sustenance, warmth and shelter: emotional needs for things like security, attention, connection to others, feeling in control and a sense that life is meaningful and that we are progressing. It is a law of nature that if we are getting these innate needs met in a balanced way, we cannot become stressed or suffer mental ill health.

Nature also ‘gives’ us a range of in-built resources to help us meet these needs, such as memory, imagination, problem solving abilities and self-awareness as well as a range of thinking styles to use in different situations. 

Therapists, counsellors and psychiatrists trained in the Human Givens approach focus on what is preventing a distressed person from getting their needs met and help them to do so by activating their resources creatively and in new ways. We use a variety of up to date psychological methods focussed on problem solving and developing new life skills, such as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Solution Focussed Therapy, mindfulness, coaching, and guided imagery.

Why is this approach effective?

The Human Givens approach draws on the latest findings from psychology and neurobiology about how people really function and what we need to lead fulfilling lives. It also takes into account international research studies which have established which psychotherapeutic techniques are the most effective for relieving a wide range of emotional distress and behavioural difficulties.

Human Givens therapy does not dwell unnecessarily on the past but uses a sound body of scientific knowledge and skills to offer practical help in the here and now. It uses a simple framework, avoids jargon or ‘psychobabble’ and takes care to provide clients with good quality information on how the brain works and how brain and body interact. It is supported by Primary Care Mental Health Education (Primhe) and is affiliated with the Royal College of General Practitioners.

Research demonstrates that Human Givens therapy works quickly and effectively - on average within 4-6 sessions.

To find out more about the Human Givens approach and a wealth of other helpful information, please visit the Human Givens Institute’s website on www.hgi.org.uk

For a useful checklist (produced by the European Studies Institute) on what to expect from effective counselling or psychotherapy, visit: www.hgi.org.uk/checklist

• Irritable Bowel syndrome and other physical issues that may be fuelled by thoughts and feelings
• Chronic pain
• Labour and childbirth (hypno-birthing)
• Healthy Eating

I work both online and in person.

Sessions last around one hour and cost £75.00 online and £90.00 in person. I work flexibly with many clients -moving between online and in person, according to their individual needs.

I am also a registered provider with AXA, WPA and Aviva Insurers.

I generally work from 9.00am to 5.00pm but occasionally offer Saturday morning appointments where possible.

I am registered with Aviva (Provider No. 6001 42538) and AXA health insurance (Provider No. PW02980) and WPA.