Insight Therapy
This approach uses attention, intention and imagination rather than will to create a desirable change. Imagery and visualisation influence psychological processes that enhance chance and healing. Visualisation allows access deeper parts of inner wisdom. It can provide great insight into what is needed to heal and resolve either physical, emotional or psychological issues. Imagery is the interface that can help us to understand what needs may be represented by certain emotional or psychological conditions. It provides a pathway for us to find and develop healthier ways to meet those needs.
Mind Body Therapy
The mind and body communicate in images. This communication is going on all the time, sometimes in a healing ways, sometimes in a damaging way, although most of the time you will not be consciously aware of it.
Mind Body Therapy is form of psychophysiological healing approach using imagery as a form of mind body connection to find resolutions to problems that arise in the body or our thoughts and behaviour. It is this perspective of studying the interface of mind and body that makes psychophysiological therapies most distinct.
Often biological symptoms have a purpose. When we can discover the purpose of these symptoms, we can develop other ways to fulfil this purpose without affecting heath and wellbeing. The body has an innate healing potential and this therapy works towards allowing the body to be the patient and healer in restoring the body to its ultimate health and vitality.
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
ACT teaches a way to overcome struggle, avoidance and loss of the moment. It is based on the belief that by trying to be happy in life we delve into the happiness trap. In order to feel happy, we try to control what we are feeling. However these control strategies take up much time and energy and are usually ineffective in that the feelings we try to avoid usually come up eventually. Most of the strategies used to avoid unpleasant emotions have an added negative impact on our quality of life over the long term.
ACT is based on six core principles which work together to help you achieve two main goals:
- Firstly to effectively handle difficult thoughts and feelings
- To create a rich, full and meaningfull life.
Emotion Focused Therapy (EFT)
Emotions themselves are not unhealthy. They are a normal response to certain life events. Failure to acknowledge and express important emotions can be detrimental to health and vitality. Many of us have not had the privilege of being given guidelines for expressing emotions in healthy ways. Often it is difficult to know how to respond to distressing emotions such as grief, fear, anger so we cope as best we can.
Although we don’t have to express every emotion we have, we unconsciously build layers of inner defences to protect us from feeling many unpleasant emotions. However, as hard as we try to build these defences, strong emotions have a way of finding routes of expression. If they are not recognised and dealt with, they may manifest as pain, illness or exhaustion. EFT provides an effective therapeutic approach to release some of the emotions that may be causing pain, illness or behavioural concerns.
Meditation and Mindfulness
“From concentration comes the birth of insight and wisdom”
Joseph Goldstein
In addition to feelings of restfulness and peace, mindfulness teaches us awareness and acceptance of the present experience. With enhanced insight, meditation leads us to a deeper understanding of our self-knowledge. It is an enlightening experience, allowing us to see more clearly and understand more deeply areas of ourselves and our lives that we were out of touch with.
Meditation is about being yourself and knowing more about who that self is.
Breathing and Relaxation Techniques
Breathing affects the whole body
Breathing affects the nervous system, the heart, the digestive system, muscles, sleep, energy levels, concentration, memory and subtle functioning levels in our body.
We not only breath in oxygen but also life energy
With certain breathing techniques, we can restore our oxygen levels so as the body feels energized, complete and reduces cravings.
With various relaxations and breathing techniques, the body can learn to switch off the “fight or flight”mode and activate the parasympathetic nervous system to switch back to a calmer, peaceful and more natural state of being.
Certain abdominal breathing can act in effective and instantaneous ways to reduce anxiety and tension. With regular practice we can strengthen our mind’s ability to overcome the state of high alert and high anxiety switching our thoughts, our emotions and our body into a state of calm.
