psychotherapy and counselling

"it is never too late to be what you might have been"

George Elliot

Creating Pathways offers psychotherapy and counselling for individuals requiring more in depth therapy to help overcome long term patterns and behaviours, chronic issues or recurrent thoughts and feelings. Psychotherapy is a relational process where by therapist and client work towards the transformation of emotional, physical, relationship, existential and behavioural issues. Psychotherapy promotes healing and growth and its aim is to build awareness which in turn creates change. Through the relational process feelings, thoughts and behaviours are explored. This is done through deep listening and empathic exploration of the person's experience. Psychotherapy allows the individual to develop a greater understanding of themselves that then enables them to make the necessary changes in their lives that they are seeking. 

Creating Pathways practices Gestalt Psychotherapy. Gestalt therapy views the individual as a whole (mind, body and soul) and believes that they are best understood in relation to their current situation as the individual experiences it. Gestalt Psychotherapy focuses on the here and now experience of the client rather than what may be perceived as happening to them because of past experiences. At the heart of Gestalt therapy lies the concept of “awareness”. When an individual is encouraged to become aware of how they think, feel and act in the present moment, new insights into other ways of being can be experienced and self healing can occur. Gestalt psychotherapy is often a very powerful and creative process that allows for amazing transformation in the individual to be achieved.

Many people engage in psychotherapy because they are wanting to gain a greater understanding of themselves. Psychotherapy can help in developing an awareness of oneself and can help in developing insight into the ways in which one behaves and relates to others. It can also help with developing an understanding of the patterns that play out in ones life.  

Psychotherapy can be used to treat a variety of issues which include:

• depression

• anxiety disorders

• trauma

• personality disorders

• eating disorders

• personality disorders

• self harm

• addiction

• post-traumatic stress disorder

• abuse

• relationship difficulties

• intimacy problems

• yearning for more from life

What are the benefits of psychotherapy?

 Psychotherapy supports the process of developing self-awareness and greater self-acceptance which in turn creates change. It is through awareness of oneself that patterns are greater understood and realised and greater meaning of life is experienced. Awareness allows for one to make more conscious choices that then lead to a different experience of oneself and the world around them. Through this process a person can develop a greater capacity to be empowered, and in charge of their existence especially when it is in relationship with others. 

Other benefits of psychotherapy include:

• Improved ability to live in the here and now

• Improved relationships with others

• Greater communication skills

• Greater understanding of oneself and one's behaviours

• Greater awareness of one's thought patterns

• Increased self-confidence

• A greater sense of fulfilment

• Decreased anxiety

• Greater ability to manage addiction

• Increased joy, meaning, peace of mind and heart

• Improved mood and greater ability to manage depressive symptoms

• Greater ability to live authentically

• Greater sense of self and personal freedom

How can you get the most out of psychotherapy?

The most important thing to consider when starting  psychotherapy is choosing a therapist that you feel comfortable with. Research suggests that the therapeutic relationship is one of the most powerful contributing factors that determines the success of the therapy. If you don't feel comfortable with your therapist then the success of the therapy will be compromised. 

It is also important to be clear on what your goals or reasons for therapy are. Even writing down what it is you hope to get out of therapy can be useful so that the is clarity in what it is you are hoping to achieve. Be prepared to be challenged and to meet those challenges knowing that you have the support of your therapist to help you make the changes that you are seeking. Be honest with your therapist. The more you are able to open up the more you will get out of the process. Basically with most things in life the more you put in to psychotherapy the more you will get out of it. 

somatic Experiencing

‘The body is the most reliable truth meter’

Adyashanti

Somatic Experiencing is a body-oriented approach to the healing of trauma and other stress disorders. Somatic Experiencing is based on the idea that traumatic experiences cause dysfunction in a person’s nervous system and prevent them from processing the experience. This approach focuses on experiencing the ‘felt sense’ in the present moment to relieve the physical, emotional and physiological effects of post traumatic stress disorder and other stress and trauma-related health problems.

Somatic Experiencing was founded and developed by Dr. Peter Levine to address the effects of trauma. Levine’s model developed from his observation of prey animals in the wild. He became curious as to why prey animals though threatened routinely, rarely became traumatised. Instead what he observed was these animals utilised innate mechanisms to regulate and discharge the energy they accumulate during stressful events. Although we virtually have the same regulatory mechanisms as animals, humans often override these natural ways of regulating the nervous system. Unlike animals in the wild we don’t feel free to shake off shock and what does not feel good and instead we contain it and hold onto it. These interferences prevent the complete discharge of survival energies and do not allow the nervous system to regain its balance. These energies then become ‘stuck’ in the body causing the body to be in a state of alertness even once the ‘danger’ has passed. Somatic experiencing aims to help people to move past the place where they might be ‘stuck’ in processing a traumatic event.

Somatic Experiencing works at the physiological level rather than focuses on talking about or reliving the trauma. SE focuses on where traumatic activation is held in the body and guides a process to allow stored energy in the body to be discharged which then brings balance to the nervous system. As this process happens the trauma event/charge loses its power and you start to feel more like yourself and are able to live a more functional life.

psychedelic integration therapy

“When will you begin that long journey into yourself?”

Rumi

Psychedelic assisted psychotherapy is gaining alot of attention in Australia especially after the recent announcement by the TGA for the legal use psilocybin and MDMA for treatment resistant depression and post traumatic stress disorder. The use of these substances for other means are still considered illegal however people still seek psychedelic experiences at their own risk for their own personal growth and to gain insights in how to better improve their lives. Psychedelic integration therapy provides individuals with a safe space to talk through and explore one’s psychedelic experience. The main benefit of utilising psychedelic integration therapy is to provide the individual with a structure to help unpack one’s psychedelic experience and to integrate it into their day to day life in a constructive way. It is through a supportive process of exploring and sharing insights and challenges that may have arisen during a psychedelic experience that one is able to make sense of their experience.

Integration therapy also involves working with a client who intends to have a psychedelic experience and to help them prepare for their experience. This involves a process of intention setting which is often referred to as set. Having an intention going into having a psychedelic experience can act as an anchor that helps ground and provides direction for the person going into having their experience. An intention can take on many different forms and in essence an intention is what you want to achieve from having a psychedelic experience. Its an idea that encapsulates the most pressing matters in your life that you are looking to connect with, gain clarity on, transform, bridge or create.

Integration as a general definition means “bringing parts together to make a whole.” Psychedelic integration helps to achieve a sense of “wholeness” by helping clients make sense of their experience. Psychedelic integration therapy provides individuals with a safe space to talk through and explore their psychedelic experience. The main benefit of psychedelic integration therapy is to provide individuals with structure to allow users to unpack their journey and integrate it into their day to day lives constructively. It is the process of exploring and sharing challenges and insights that arise during psychedelic experiences. Integration is about creating space to take the gained insights, emotions, feelings, sensations and ideas from an experience and processing them into desired areas of one’s life. In this way, integration therapy increases the potential for personal transformation from having a psychedelic experience.

“often the hands will solve a mystery that the intellect has struggled with in vain”

Carl Jung

Art therapy is a form of therapy that involves creative visual making as a form of non-verbal expression.  Art therapy may focus on the process of creative art-making as a way of facilitating change and recovery or it may involve the analysis of expression created through an exchange  between therapist and client. Art therapy is an approach that encourages greater meaning and insight, provides relief from overwhelming emotions, facilitates the resolution of personal conflict and creates a greater sense of well being within the individual.

Anyone can engage in art therapy regardless of their skills as art therapy is not about the end product and more importantly about the process. It is a fantastic tool for those who find talking tricky - especially young children and adolescents as it is through the exploration of symbols and imagery that meaning is made. It is in this way that that the unconscious becomes conscious as art making can often be the gate way to the unconscious mind. 

Art therapists work with a wide variety of disorders. An art therapy session can take place one on one, with couples, families or groups. Often a variety of materials are on offer to choose from allowing the client to explore different mediums that might contribute to the art making process. Interventions or directives are often offered to assist achieving the therapeutic goals and objectives that have been decided upon between therapist and client.  

meditation