Jane Jiggens

My current working hours are 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday to Friday and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday.  

Welcome to The Therapy Shed®

I work online and face to face with people over 18 to improve their relationships, primarily the relationship they have with themselves.

So, if you have found me here, you may be experiencing some of the following: 

• You are overwhelmed with intense emotions
• Your relationships are strained or breaking down
• You have lost someone
• You cannot voice what you need
• You cannot find your way
• You have an inner voice that is really mean

You may even have identified some past trauma and because in trauma we are alone with the frightening experience, the effects can be long lasting and impact our mental, physical, social and emotional wellbeing.  Working in a trauma focussed way, you will begin to learn how to be safe in your body and brain once more.  

However, you may be looking for help to understand all of these things, to make sense of your thoughts, feelings and behaviours, other people and even the world.  Human beings are wired for relationship and we form relationships with caregivers (attachments) from birth, which is necessary for both survival and development.  But sometimes our attachments are not secure and as we go through life we may be confused as to why: 

• Relationships keep ending the same way
• Why we keep feeling the same old feelings
• Why we engage in behaviours that are harmful
• Why we keep telling ourselves that we are not good enough or believe everything is our fault
• Why we feel that we cannot get close to people

Well, this is where I can help because if we are fully connected to ourselves and who we are then everything else begins to get easier. Relationships become more intimate, fulfilling and stronger or we may ditch relationships that are not good for us. Emotions become manageable, harmful behaviours lessen, we feel lighter, happier and able to make good decisions.  

Sometimes it may be difficult to talk to family and friends about this because we fear judgement or believe that we are a burden, or maybe we just don't want to.  

This is where counselling can help because counselling is a space for you.  It is where a professional helps you to make sense of your life, both past and present.  It is your time to work through your goals so you can then move forward in the way you want to. It is not always heavy and difficult, it is a place where we share humour, triumphs, a-ha moments and compassion. 

In our busy lives we may not have the time to think or to process anything, we may be rushing from one thing to another. Maybe we have a demanding family or job or maybe we just need a trained therapist to be with us because things feel difficult to face alone. In counselling you will have this space, free from interruptions, to focus on you.  Counselling is your self-care, which will benefit you your whole life.  

So, if you have decided that counselling is something that you would like to try, you may be feeling anxious about opening up to someone you don’t know. This is a big first step and if you haven’t had any counselling before it may feel difficult. So, apart from looking for a counsellor who holds the right qualifications, it is important that you feel comfortable with them. 

My core training is to Foundation Degree Level and is considered integrative, which means I have studied a variety of counselling theories, psychology and science based modules.

I work with bereavement, with people who feel lost, with relationship difficulties, anxiety, depression, anger and rage.  I work with counselling students and soon couples.  

Continued professional development is something that I am passionate about and I take up training courses throughout the year, which either adds to or builds on my existing knowledge. Other courses  Internal Family Systems (Informed), bereavement training, Transactional Analysis, Post Graduate Course in Compassionate Inquiry Approach (Gabor Mate). I am Trauma trained to the New Havens Competencies and I hold a Level 5 qualification in Attachment Based Psychotherapy.  

Our first session will be sligthly different than subseqent sessions.  I will take information which enables me to work ethically and safely with you and it is a time for you to ask any questions of me and for us to establish a way of working together.  

It is normal to feel anxious about beginning counselling, however, clients report that they quickly feel at ease with me and the way that I work, valuing the open dialogue, the compassion and knowledge.