JENNIFER CLARKE Therapy

Its good to talk

My Approach

Please click here to read my interview ‘Meet the Therapist’ featured in welldoing.org

I offer both long and short-term counselling sessions.

Long-term counselling

Open-ended counselling proceeds at a pace set by the client, allowing time and space to explore the root causes of current challenges.

Short-term counselling

This is useful for people who do not want to make a long commitment or have a particular issue to work with such as a relationship difficulty.  It is often used by people who have had counselling in the past and want to return to work on a specific issue.

What is my therapeutic approach?

I have qualifications across the below three modalities so tend to blend or pick one or two approaches depending on what I think will best help an individual.

Psychodynamic Counselling

Psychodynamic Counselling is fundamentally concerned with trying to understand how your past relationships and experiences affect your behaviours and relationships in the present. This is my preferred method of working for those engaging in longer-term therapy.  While this work can be slow and challenging, I hold the belief that psychodynamic work helps people get to the root cause of problems that in many cases, have been unresolved for a long time.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)

I tend to adopt the CBT modality when working with clients on a shorter-term basis. I use this approach to support people to manage their problems through collaborative examination of how they think and behave and I challenge the current link between the two and help support people to explore how alternative outcomes might be achieved.

Person-Centred Therapy

I find considering this school of thought useful to support clients explore their own issues, feelings, beliefs, behaviour, and worldview, which can enable a greater self-awareness and unlock the potential to achieve greater independence.

Some issues I help adult clients with:

  • Anxiety
  • Low mood and depression
  • Relationship issues
  • Low self-esteem and feelings of low self-worth
  • Loneliness, abandonment and feelings of rejection
  • Living with Autism and ADHD – as an individual or vicariously
  • Trauma and PTSD
  • Self-harm
  • Suicidal Ideation
  • OCD
  • Loss and bereavement
  • Coping with chronic illness
  • Burnout, stress and work-related issues
  • Anger
  • Phobias
  • Conflicts in the workplace

Adolescent Psychotherapy

Every young person reacts differently toward life.  Some circumstances have either a positive or negative effect on their mental health. Each phase of development brings specific challenges for young people and many young people struggle with expressing how they feel. They tend to work through these as a regular part of growing up. However, some events that happen in adolescence can leave them unsettled and unable to process some of their feelings unless they are allowed to open up about them. They might be having issues with their peers, they might be angry, anxious or scared.  They may also be having identity issues or self-harm but find it hard to speak to people that they know as they worry they might get into trouble or worry that what they disclose might hurt them. In these circumstances having someone that they can talk to confidentially can help them.

Psychotherapy can help with a range of issues, but some of the most common include:

  • Bereavement,
  • Change of family circumstances,
  • Internet addiction,
  • Bullying,
  • Social media anxiety,
  • Self-harm,
  • Eating disorders,
  • Physical or sexual abuse,
  • Parental divorce or separation,
  • Moving to a new place or attending a new school,
  • Domestic violence.

While I don’t disclose the content of the sessions, I am happy to discuss general themes and answer any questions or concerns parents might have about their children or therapy.