Samantha Kynaston

Many of us can struggle for years with the same feelings, in the same situations, thinking the same thoughts. We may feel stuck or repeatedly arrive in a bad place.

Psychotherapy can help to explore the reasons for this.

So much of what you feel think and do has roots in our early childhood. As a child we develop ways of being (usually out of awareness) that mean that we ‘fit’ in with our family, or as a way of responding to difficult or traumatic situations. The result is that our early needs are often missed, so much so that we may lose sight of them ourselves or have no idea how to get them met.

As we explore the reasons for this, needs and feelings that were never addressed or even recognised can be explored and ultimately tended to. This can help us to stop negative familiar patterns thus leading to more positive outcomes.

When done in a supportive and trusting manner, therapy can provide the vehicle for this exploration. I believe in being curious, non judgemental and above all compassionate to fellow humans who wish to undergo a process of self discovery and change.

Therapy is not about me telling you what to do but about us exploring together what is best for you. Everyone is unique and so it is important for me to get to know you, so we can find out what is best for you. I believe that we ourselves are responsible for our own well being and that ultimately only we can decide to change should we so wish. Therapy can be challenging but also very rewarding and empowering leading to lasting change and growth.

I work with people with a range of issues such as depression, anxiety, loneliness, meaninglessness, death anxiety, bereavement, grief, stress, obsessional thinking and behaviours, low self esteem, low confidence, relationship issues, family issues, generalised anxiety disorder, bipolar disorder.

Also neurodiversity: ADHD and autism. More and more people are getting diagnosed - or considering diagnosis - as adults, having thought for all of their life that there was something wrong with them. Such a diagnosis can bring up feelings of relief as well as grief. I have direct experience of neurodiversity both in my family and with the clients that I work with.

I provide a safe, supportive, protective and confidential setting and work with warmth, respect and compassion.

EMDR

I am also trained in EMDR therapy which is an NHS approved therapy for helping you to deal with past events (including trauma) that may be affecting your mental well being in the present. 

Very often people talk about knowing something is bad for them but they are just unable to change how they feel - for example, they know they need to be kinder to themselves but they just end up treating themselves badly. It can feel like they have no control over such feelings. Such feelings can often be laid down by early trauma. Trauma occurs to a child when an event happens and the child has no way to process and understand it as an adult would. Then the event and associated feelings can linger around forever, getting triggered by people or situations in the present. EMDR can help you to explore early memories and past situations that are causing present problems and help you to re-process them so that they are stored and processed in the past. As such they just become a memory and stop causing problems in the present.

EMDR works from the basis that the unconscious wants to move towards health and that as such, given the right conditions, it knows how to heal itself.

Sessions are 50 minutes in length