...is a specialist service offering psychodynamic psychotherapy to young people and adults who are experiencing difficulties affecting their emotional and/or psychological well-being. This can manifest in a number of ways, some of which are identified below.
Psychotherapy is not about giving advice, providing solutions, managing behaviour or 'fixing' things, although it does bring about change. Jeanine provides a space to reflect together, make sense of and manage life experiences and transitions with specialist support. She has helped people who have experienced the following:
Loss
Hopelessness
Panic Sleep disturbances Gender identity
Depression Obsessions
Disordered eating Suicidal thoughts Autism
Sexual abuse Post traumatic stress
Domestic abuse Ritualistic behaviour
Bereavement Low self esteem
Problems associated with alcohol & drugs Nightmares
Rejection Social withdrawal Fears/phobias
Supporting parent/carers and families
Parents and carers can find it valuable to have someone to think with about their experience of caring for a child who is struggling. In turn, children can find it valuable to know that their parent/carer is thinking about them and sharing the responsibility of trying to make things better.
As well as working individually with young people, Jeanine also works with parents and carers, sometimes individually, sometimes in joint sessions with their child, or sometimes with the family as a whole.
Children’s difficulties can bring up unresolved issues for parents/carers which can trigger difficult emotional responses. They may feel blamed, stigmatised, unloved or misunderstood when their children are experiencing problems of an emotional, psychological or behavioural nature. This can remind them of their own negative or traumatic experiences (as a child or adult) and it can also provoke new, difficult to manage emotions. Many parents/carers find it helps to have a space to reflect on their feelings with an attentive 'other' and this can bring about positive change in their own life and in their relationship with their child.
Jeanine Connor © 2023 (update)