Ana Valea.

Psychotherapist.

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The people I work with in Psychotherapy may seek psychological support for a variety of reasons. You might be feeling hindered by past or present trauma, or you may be functioning well in your life. You might be seeking psychotherapy as a means of self development, to address major life changes, or to manage a mental health condition. You might also entre therapy as part of your training requirement. You might have been in counselling or psychotherapy before, and feel that there is further work to be done.

I like to begin with an assessment which enables me to think together with you about your circumstances, and to determine the most appropriate way forward with you – which may mean a referral to a different form of therapy.

If we decide to continue working together, my aim would be to help you to understand the trauma or traumas that underpin the problems you may be struggling with on a day to day basis, and to enable this understanding to be accepted by, and integrated with, your own conscious sense of who you are as a person. 

Please look at my FAQ page for answers to any questions might have. You can find out more about the training that I have undertaken, and about psychoanalytic psychotherapy, by looking at the UKCP, UK Council for Psychotherapy website. 

Specialising In

Individual psychodynamic psychoanalytic therapy

Psychodynamic therapy often involves free association.  This is when you are encouraged to discuss whatever is on your mind, including the events of the week, past conflicts with others, fears and desires, dreams and nightmares, or anything you want to share about yourself with the therapist.

Psychoanalytic therapy is a form of in-depth talk therapy that aims to bring unconscious or deeply buried thoughts and feelings to the conscious mind so that repressed experiences  and emotions, often from childhood, can be brought to the surface and examine. 

Conditions I Can Help With

Anxiety, panic attacks, stress.

Experiencing occasional anxiety is a normal part of life. However, if you are experiencing intense, excessive and persistent worry, fear, and terror that reaches a peak with minutes you might like to talk to reach out for professional help.
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Gender Identity.

I have extensive experience working with individuals within a wide range of queer identities. LGBTQ people enter therapy for the same reasons everyone else enters therapy. They might be depressed, or feel severely anxious, they might be compulsively abusing substances or they have recently endured a break up. However, many LGBTQ people come to therapy with an extra layer of trauma and sometimes shame related to their sexuality or identity and the ways in which their sexual orientation/gender identity has been responded to by their families and/or society. Expressing ones gender can feel complicated sometimes. You might feel worried about how others will react, or not be sure what feels right for you. There is no right or wrong way to express ones identity.
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Sexuality

I have extensive experience working with individuals within a wide range of queer sexualities and identities. LGBTQ people enter therapy for the same reasons everyone else enters therapy. They might be depressed, or feel severely anxious, they might be compulsively abusing substances or they have recently endured a break up. However, many LGBTQ people come to therapy with an extra layer of trauma and sometimes shame related to their sexuality or identity and the ways in which their sexual orientation/gender identity has been responded to by their families and/or society. Being interested in someone of the same sex does not necessarily mean that a person is gay -just as being interested in someone of the opposite sex doesn't mean a person is straight. Some people might go beyond just thinking about it and experiment with sexual experiences with people of their own sex or of the opposite sex. These experiences, by themselves, do not necessarily mean that a person is gay or straight.
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Feelings of emptiness, loneliness and meaninglessness.

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Relationships

Maintaining healthy relationships, be they romantic, friendships or work-related, can be challenging at times . The difficulties might be related to the stress of busy, modern living, wanting different things in life, or due go dysfunctional dynamics that might be extremely difficult to identify and break free.
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Low self-esteem.

If you suffer from lack of self-esteem and lack of confidence it can affect your relationships, work, and family dynamics and it can impact on your mental health and physical health.
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Trauma in your childhood or later in life.

What constitutes childhood trauma varies widely. Physical or sexual abuse, neglect and witnessing violence in the home are all common forms of trauma. In addition, children can experience relational or emotional trauma from the parent(s). Bullying outside the home can also preclude trauma.
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Problems with education and career attainments.

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Loss or a bereavement.

If you lose someone can be painful and complex, even if they lived a long and happy life. 'Complicated' and ' Prolonged grief' is a way for people to describe a wide range of struggles they might encounter. They might feel stuck or not coping with life, they might no find enjoyment in everyday activities. For example, they might avoid friends or hobbies for a long time. They might also have 'very difficult feelings' for example, on top of the grief, they might also experience guilt or hopelessness about the future. Saying good bye to someone can also go deep into the heart of our own identities. Our relationships fulfil fundamental needs for intimacy, love, connectedness and attachment. Sometimes when someone leaves us, we simply and deeply struggle to go on.
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Physical symptoms for which there is no medical explanation, but which may be an expression of emotional pain.

Medically unexplained symptoms are extremely common. However, one does not have to see the evidence of pain to see that someone is in pain, or fatigue. There is no question that those suffering with un-explained conditions suffer as or more than those whose illnesses have a concrete organic diagnoses.
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Ana Valea.

Psychotherapist.

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