Abuse
Abuse may take a number of forms: sexual, physical, emotional, psychological, or some combination of these. The experience of abuse, depending on the severity, can undermine a fundamental sense of security and identity, resulting in intense feelings of shame, self hatred, fear, fragmented personality, self destructive behaviour, and attraction to abusive relationships.
I have worked with people who have suffered abuse in a number of different contexts e.g.: as a childhood experience which has been compounded upon by successive abusers; severe bullying / incessant abuse during school years; adult victims of political torture, women trapped in an emotionally abusive relationship or series of relationships. Through my experience in hospitals, therapeutic communities, homeless hostels, and over thirty years in private practice, I have worked with many people who have suffered abusive experiences.
In the extreme abuse can undermine your sense of feeling safe in your own skin, your very being can feel fragmented, your integrity under threat, and you may be plauged by nightmares in which scenes from your abuse are replayed. It can be a terrifying experience.
I offer a safe and secure confidential environment, through which internalised patterns of abuse can be recognised. Together we can look at how these internal patterns have been involved in your expectations of relationships in the outer world, and the limiting internal narrative which lies behind them.
Through a collaborative process the pain, fear, and rage - which is often turned inward leading to self abusive behaviour, can be gradually worked through. There is then potential for something new to be born, which may lead to a deeper, richer life. This process takes time, and needs to be treated with appropriate respect and sensitivity.
