DR JESS RAYNER
CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST
EMDR Therapy
EMDR is a highly effective therapy for treating trauma and has also been shown to help with anxiety, OCD, grief, and phobias. It taps into the body's natural healing abilities. When we experience trauma or distress, our brain and body hold onto these events differently, preventing full processing and allowing them to continue affecting us. Through EMDR, the therapist will support you in strategies that help the brain make the connections to heal and process these memories. As a result, many people find that the emotional intensity of their memories fades, allowing them to stay in the past without being re-triggered in the present. More info on this can be found on the EMDR international association website here.​​
Acceptance & Commitment Therapy
(ACT)
​This approach recognizes how easily we can lose sight of what truly matters when difficult thoughts and emotions take over. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) helps you manage these experiences without letting them dictate your actions. Through mindfulness and acceptance, ACT encourages you to observe your thoughts and feelings without being controlled by them, allowing you to focus on your core values. This empowers you to take meaningful steps toward a more authentic and fulfilling life, even in the face of challenges.
Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT)
This approach aims to nurture psychological well-being and reduce suffering by fostering compassionate responses to ourselves and others, including our inner experiences.
When we face distress or difficult life events, our minds can enter a state of threat, leading to relentless self-criticism, physical tension, and feelings of shame, guilt, anger, or anxiety. These can weigh heavily on our daily lives. Compassion-Focused Therapy (CFT) helps us find balance, soothe ourselves and ease that sense of threat.
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The benefits of compassion are not new, they have been recognized in cultures worldwide for centuries. Today, modern psychology, neuroscience, and human development theories support their positive impact on the nervous system and overall quality of life.
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)
This therapy approach emphasises that how we think about situations affects the
way we feel and behave. CBT looks at identifying the connections between your thoughts, emotions, behaviours and physical sensations to uncover patterns that might be keeping your difficulties going. CBT focuses on supporting you to understand your experiences and teaches you skills and strategies to help change thinking and behaviour.
Mindfulness-Based Approaches
Mindfulness is a natural human ability that involves being fully present and aware of our surroundings, actions, and experiences while maintaining a non-judgmental, curious, and kind attitude.
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In today’s fast-paced world, many of us disconnect from the present moment, becoming absorbed in thoughts about the past or future or caught up in our emotions and physical sensations. This disconnection can worsen during times of emotional or physical distress, making us want to escape the present.
Living life on autopilot can lead to habitual behaviours, causing us to overlook choices available to us and miss opportunities for a fulfilling life. Mindfulness-based approaches use meditation and guided practices to enhance awareness and help us respond thoughtfully to challenges. Research shows that practicing mindfulness can reduce stress, improve physical and mental well-being, decrease emotional reactivity and enhance our ability to navigate daily tasks and relationships. For this reason, mindfulness practices are part of many psychological therapies.