Other Psychological Issues

Eating Disorders

Eating disorders can be difficult to define. Each one of us has our own particular patterns and behaviours with eating. However if either ourselves or someone close to us is concerned that our eating patterns have become in some way a threat to our health or wellbeing then we may need to seek help in order to identify what is going on. Eating disorders can include any of the following, anorexia, bulimia, binge eating or excessive use of laxatives. We specialise in the particular areas of food addiction, binge eating and bulimia. Often an eating disorder will be a gradual process and will not be apparent until physical symptoms begin to emerge however it is important that a sufferer will seek help as early as possible. The earlier an eating disorder is identified the easier it is to address. It is normal for other psychological conditions to be present for an eating disorder to develop and these issues need to be addressed in conjunction with treatment for the disorder. Counselling and psychotherapy can help by tackling underlying emotional problems, challenging beliefs and attitudes sustaining the behaviour.

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

In some cases anxiety can result in a person experiencing symptoms of obsessive compulsive disorder.

If you suspect that you might have Obsessive Compulsive Disorder a course of counselling treatment can be very helpful if your obsessions and compulsions:

• Take up a lot of time
• Interfere with your normal routine
• Affect your relationships or social activities
• Can have an extremely limiting effect on normal behaviour patterns

Counselling for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder is an effective treatment that can give you back control over your life.

Sexual addiction

If you believe you or someone you care about might be suffering from sexual addiction, it’s crucial to be able to recognize the signs and symptoms.

• Multiple sexual partners
• Cybersex
• Unsafe sex
• Frequent one-night stands
• The use of prostitutes
• Feelings of shame and guilt
• Unable to resist impulses to engage in extreme sexual acts

An individual who’s suffering from sexual addiction might also have made multiple attempts to control their behaviour without success. Sex addicts might also spend an extensive amount of time attempting to obtain sex. This behaviour can interfere with work, recreational and social activities. In some instances, the person might experience sexual rage disorder and become anxious, distressed or violent if they aren’t able to engage in sexual activity.

Bereavement

If you have experienced the death of someone who was very important to you, you might be finding it very difficult to adjust to the immense changes happening in your life right now. Grief can shake everything up – your beliefs, your personality, and even your sense of reality. Bereavement is the time we spend adjusting to loss. There is no standard time limit and there is no right or wrong way to feel during the bereavement period – everyone must learn to cope in their own way.

Grief, although normal, can manifest in a huge range of unexpected ways. Some people get angry, some people withdraw further into themselves and some people become completely numb. Sometimes, grief can turn into something more serious – like depression. Bereavement counselling may be able to provide support during these very difficult times. Talking about the loss often allows a person to adjust to their new life with all its changes – good and bad. Keeping things bottled up or denying the sadness could prolong the pain. Any loss has to be acknowledged for us to move forward. Bereavement counselling tries to help individuals find a place for their loss so they can carry on with life and eventually find acceptance

Anger Management

Contrary to what some people might think, the goal of anger management counselling is not to get rid of your anger! Anger is one of the basic emotions that we experience as humans, and it is not possible to get rid of it, as much as you might sometimes wish that you could! Rather, the goal is to learn to manage or control your anger, so that you can connect with it and express it cleanly and clearly in a way that it becomes constructive rather than destructive. The process of counselling can help individuals to find better ways to think of others and themselves and communicate more effectively so that they can generate more understanding and connection with those around them and get more of what both they and others want in different situations.