“Nobody can bring you peace but yourself. “ – Emerson
I have been dealing with anxiety and OCD in my personal life for as long as I can remember. And for me, the traditional approaches don’t work. We’ve all encountered them – an emphasis on challenging our thoughts, pulling ourselves together and getting on with it. For some this is effective – but for me, the harder I try to push anxiety away the harder it pushes back, until I spend too much time pushing and not enough time doing the things that really matter to me. Difficult thoughts, feelings and emotions become monsters to be controlled, contained and fought with, and daily life becomes a constant battle.
What, though, if there is another way to treat emotional distress? Current thinking and research points to the idea of Psychological Acceptance – this is where we learn to drop the struggle with ourselves and turn towards our fears, treating them not as enemies but as strategies – albeit ineffective ones – that we have developed to help us get through life. By viewing these strategies with a deeper understanding, we can lessen their power over us and transform them into useful inner resources.
I use Acceptance Commitment Therapy (ACT), compassion-centred and body-focussed work to create a gentle yet powerful approach that can transform the way we relate to ourselves, and help us to move towards what matters in our lives. My therapeutic model is underpinned by thorough training, professional experience and ongoing academic research into the areas of anxiety and OCD.
“Eleanor has helped me guide myself towards my own truth and deeper meaning.” – Joel, counselling for anxiety and trauma.
Qualifications
MA Counselling and Psychotherapy in Practice (2021 – ongoing)
Advanced Diploma in Integrative Counselling (2015)
Certificate in Counselling
Certificate in Focusing
ACT and Anxiety
ACT as a Brief Intervention
BA Hons English Lit
