THRIVE PSYCHOTHERAPY
Mindfulness-based psychotherapy in Hurstpierpoint and Uckfield with Lorna Ely
THERAPY IS TIME FOR YOU
Life's ebbs and flows can bring up a mixture of emotions, experiences and sensations. Sometimes we know what is going on and our coping strategies work well. And sometimes we feel stuck, anxious or overwhelmed with no clear path in front of us.
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Whether it's dealing with past traumas, or current challenges such as bereavement, divorce, life changes, loss of meaning or anxiety and depression, or questions of identify or faith, psychotherapy and counselling offers the space to pause and deepen our understanding of our own experiences so that we can find a greater sense of freedom and wellbeing.
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Therapy is the time for you. It is your gift to your past, present and future self.
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If you feel that it is time to give yourself that gift, please get in touch and we can discuss how therapy might be able to help you.
"In this busy, sometimes confusingly noisy world, I want to provide you with space. A space for a little of that noise to quieten down, for you be heard. Space, for you to explore your feelings in the manner and at the pace that feels right for you, so that you can find what you need to thrive.
ABOUT ME
I offer mindfulness-based psychotherapy in Hurstpierpoint in West Sussex and Wilderness Woods (near Uckfield) in East Sussex. I offer support to clients with a number of different issues.
I hold a Masters in Mindfulness-based Core Process Psychotherapy from the Karuna Institute in Devon, certified by Middlesex University (UKCP and BACP accredited) and a Bachelors degree in Psychology. I am accredited by and registered with the UK Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP), am fully insured and GDPR compliant. I am also a member of the Association of Core Process Psychotherapists.
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Prior to starting my training as a psychotherapist, I was a consultant specialising in the social change sector in South Africa. I have had the privilege of working with many different people, from different backgrounds and with different world views. After years of working of 'solving the problems' externally, I realised I wanted to go the other way. To go inward. I have battled my dark nights of the soul. Being human is hard. And psychotherapy has helped me immeasurably in my own journey. I have sat where you have sat. I understand what it feels like to be the client.
I am committed to my ongoing exploration of my relationship to Whiteness and colonialism, to identifying and coming into conscious relationship with my own internalised structures of power and privilege. It is important to me that we are constantly thinking about this - as people, but particularly as therapists.
I am passionately curious about the extraordinary inner life of each and every individual. I believe it is imperative that we think deeply about what it means to be human in these times. And in that, it is my hope we can reclaim the unloved, the demonised and the wild parts of ourselves.
“The greatest damage done by neglect, trauma or emotional loss is not the immediate pain they inflict but the long-term distortions they induce in the way a developing child will continue to interpret the world and her situation in it. All too often these ill-conditioned implicit beliefs become self-fulfilling prophecies in our lives. We create meanings from our unconscious interpretation of early events, and then we forge our present experiences from the meaning we’ve created. Unwittingly, we write the story of our future from narratives based on the past...Mindful awareness can bring into consciousness those hidden, past-based perspectives so that they no longer frame our worldview.’Choice begins the moment you disidentify from the mind and its conditioned patterns, the moment you become present…Until you reach that point, you are unconscious.’ …In present awareness we are liberated from the past.”
Gabor Maté, In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters with Addiction
ISSUES I WORK WITH
I offer a warm and respectful therapy for a wide variety of issues that include:
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Anxiety and feeling overwhelmed
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Depression
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Trauma or traumatic events
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Grief, bereavement and loss
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Exploration of identity
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Sense of sexuality or sexual self
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Feeling stuck, frustrated or challenged in your relationships
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Exploration of spirituality, meaning or purpose in life
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MY APPROACH
MY THERAPEUTIC APPROACH​
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I am trained in Mindfulness-based Core Process Psychotherapy. This approach beautifully combines Western psychodynamic theory with the deeply compassionate Buddhist philosophy of self and mind. My training brings together current research in neuroscience, psychodynamic theory, trauma, attachment and buddhist philosophy of body and mind. Core Process Psychotherapy was developed some 35 years ago and such is one of the UK's oldest mindfulness-based forms of psychotherapy.
This means my approach is embedded in contemplative practice, bringing mindful attention to thoughts, feelings, sensations, and embodied experience.
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You don't need to be a buddhist or have any experience of mindfulness to benefit from this approach.
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For more information about this approach please visit www.karuna-institute.co.uk
Artwork by Steve Johnson
Contact me
WHAT TO EXPECT
HOW DO WE START?
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If you feel like you might be ready to start therapy, please get in touch. From there we can arrange an initial (free) 20 min chat on the phone. In that call we can explore what you feel you want from therapy. I will also explain how the sessions work and then send you a copy of my client agreement.
If we feel there is a good fit and you would like to proceed, I will suggest we see each other weekly for six sessions. This will give you enough time to see what you might want to focus on and what the nature of this work might be. In some cases, this short-term therapy might feel like enough. For others, longer-term therapy might be appropriate. Remembering that this is time for you, we will always explore the likely length and focus of the work together.
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DO YOU OFFER ONLINE SESSIONS?
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I prefer to take on clients who I can meet with in person. It is my experience that we both get a lot more from the sessions if we are in the room together. I am however able to offer online sessions from time to time to existing clients whom I normally see face to face.
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WHAT HAPPENS IN A SESSION?
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A session is 1hour long. You don't need to prepare for a session - we will work with what is present. You might be surprised at what comes up in a session. That is normal! We might discuss recent events and how you're feeling about them, you might bring memories of the past that you'd like to explore in a compassionate mindful environment, or you might bring the feelings, thoughts or sensations that feel you can't express to your family, friends or colleagues. We will work together, at your pace, to understand these experiences or feelings with the aim of supporting your inner health and vitality.
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FEES
My sessions are £65 per 1hr session.
